Sunday, 29 July 2012

“Sir, you have got a medical problem, and you need to always take medication. If you do not, your life is going to get messed up.”

Those are not my words of wisdom, but the summation by Madam Justice Lauren Marshall taken from the Ontario Courts of Justice transcript during Luka Magnotta's fraud Trial in June 2005.

Back in 2005 Luka pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding three retail stores of $16,900 and impersonating a vulnerable 21-year-old female acquaintance to obtain a credit card, but details have just emerged of the Court transcript of the case.

The Court transcript recorded that Luka Magnotta, known then as Eric Clinton Kirk Newman, met the female in January 2004 after first chatting to her online and coerced her into accompanying him to three stores to obtain credit for himself in her name, giving her an assurance that he would pay the bills. He also fraudulently obtained an American Express card by impersonating her over the telephone.

The Court transcript noted that the 21-year-old female "had a mental age of an 8-12 year-old", a fact which the Judge felt Luka Magnotta had exploited to his advantage.

The exact nature of Luka Magnotta's mental health condition was not publicly disclosed during the trial but the Court transcript recorded that Luka Magnotta had “significant psychiatric issues...and did not always take his medication”.

In passing sentence, Madam Justice Marshall ordered Luka Magnotta to take his medication, receive treatment for mental health issues and counselling for life skills, in addition to a 9-month conditional sentence and 12-months probation. 

Judge Marshall also advised Luka Magnotta: “Please listen to your parents. They may not be perfect, but when it comes down to it they are the ones in the world who care most about you and are going to always try and give you the right advice.” 

His community service order was reduced from the 100 hours requested by the Crown to 20 hours in view of his mental health issues.

Full story covered in a report on The Globe and Mail.

It was disclosed during the preliminary hearings in 2013 that Luka Magnotta had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, which is the condition Madam Justice Marshall referred to in his 2005 Trial.

No comments:

Post a Comment