Publication Ban Imposed on Criminal Liability Hearing for Alleged Keremeos Attacker – Keremeos Review

The man who allegedly attacked Keremeos village staff in 2021 has had a publication ban imposed on his case.

Cameron Urquhart appeared virtually outside the Penticton Courthouse on Monday, July 11 for a not criminally responsible (NCR) hearing which included the results of his psychiatric report.

The report was placed under a publication ban by the judge following a request by Urquhart’s attorney, according to the Penticton Court Registry.

The ban, under section 672.51 of the Canadian Criminal Code, means that no information will be available or disclosed to anyone outside of the proceedings of the case, as the court believes that disclosure of the information on the decision would be seriously prejudicial to the accused and that in the circumstances, the protection of the accused takes precedence over the public interest justifying the disclosure.

Prior to the NCR hearing, the facts of the incident were read from the court filing, which added context to the 14 charges Urquhart faces for the Jan. 24 incident.

According to the statement of facts, the police were called to the municipal offices of Keremeos by a witness who reported that a man, later identified as Urquhart, brandished a mace and threw someone to the ground.

The witness stayed on the line to provide updates as Urquhart returned inside to smash various objects, including the safety glass at the main counter, chasing people out of the office where he then pushed a woman into the ground and kicked him. Another woman was punched in the face.

Urquhart continued to chase the other people as they fled to their vehicles. A second person also called the RCMP, reporting that Urquhart was letting air out of the tires of several vehicles, and shouting various comments heard in the background of the call.

In addition to the hammer, which Urquhart broke his head in his attack and a knife strapped to Urquhart’s chest which was not used, Urquhart had also been wearing metal spikes which left cuts on one of his victims.

One of the victims who fled was punched in the back, causing them to slide on the ice outside and giving Urquhart an opening to approach and repeatedly kick them . Thanks to others distracting Urquhart, they were able to flee and get into a vehicle driven by a passing woman.

Once police arrived on the scene, Urquhart punched the officer in the face, writhing on the ground to resist arrest before being taken into custody.

Urquhart was previously found unfit to stand trial in a separate report that was presented to the court earlier, which is not covered by the publication ban.

After Monday’s hearing, Urquhart is currently scheduled to appear before the court’s chief legal officer on July 18.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Mental Health