Bus driver in Laval, Que., daycare crash deemed a high-risk accused

Pierre Ny St-Amand, the man who drove a bus into a Laval, Que., daycare in 2023, killing two young children and injuring six others, has been declared a high-risk accused.

The designation means that Ny St-Amand, who was declared not criminally responsible for the deaths, will remain in a psychiatric facility under strict constraints.

The defence had argued that declaring Ny St-Amand a high-risk accused would violate his Charter rights because the status assumes that he is irredeemable.

Judge Éric Downs ruled that the designation is constitutional.

“The court grants the prosecutor’s request: it designates the accused as high-risk under the Criminal Code,” Downs said at the courthouse in the northern Montreal suburb.

“On the one hand, there is a marked probability that the accused will use violence in a manner that endangers the life or safety of another person; on the other hand, the acts that gave rise to the offences are of such a brutal nature that there is a risk of serious physical or psychological harm to another person.”

The high-risk status prevents Ny St-Amand from leaving the psychiatric hospital where he is being detained except for medical reasons or for the purposes of his treatment.

WATCH | Families say ruling is the ‘bare minimum’:

Man who drove bus into Quebec daycare declared a high-risk accused

Pierre Ny St-Amand drove his bus into a Laval, Que., daycare in February 2023, killing two young children and injuring six others. He’s been deemed a high-risk accused, meaning he will remain in a psychiatric facility under strict conditions. Parents affected by the fatal event say the ruling is the ‘bare minimum’ they expected.

It also limits the decisions that the province’s mental health review board can make in his case. Any changes to his treatment plan or to the restrictions of his movements would need to be put before the Quebec Superior Court.

“I think everyone is breathing a sigh of relief this morning,” Crown prosecutor Simon Blais told reporters after the hearing. “This (status) is a double-checking process implemented for very rare cases where accused persons present a high potential for dangerousness.”

Last April, Downs ruled that Ny St-Amand was not criminally responsible for the daycare attack because he had likely been in psychosis.

The crash killed four-year-old Jacob Gauthier and a five-year-old girl named Maeva, whose family name is covered by a publication ban at the request of her parents. Six other children were injured.

St-Amand has maintained he doesn’t remember what happened on the day of the crash. He will remain detained at the Philippe-Pinel psychiatric hospital in Montreal.

Also Monday, Downs granted victim status to two dozen people, ensuring they’ll be able to take part in future mental health hearings involving the accused and make impact statements.

One of those granted status is Mélanie Goulet, whose daughter was pinned under the bus after the crash. She told reporters she felt a “certain relief” with Monday’s ruling.

“Everything concerning the court is now over …. It’s now over for us unfortunately, but it’s true that this chapter is closed.”