No jail time for junior high hostage-taker
Posted Jun 7, 2010 4:24 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Calgary man who held a secretary hostage for several hours at a Calgary junior high school three months ago has been deemed not criminally responsible.
Matthew Adeniran was facing a long list of charges including forcible confinement after he burst into A.E. Cross Junior High armed with a knife March 4.
Adeniran had a long-standing beef with the school principal over an injury he suffered when he was in school.
A psychiatric evaluation found the young man was suffering from Paranoid Schizophrenia at the time of the incident and he’ll now be treated at either the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatric Centre or at the Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.
Crown prosecutor Gary Cornfield tells 660News Adeniran has been remanded into custody and the Alberta Review Board will have a hearing within 45 days to decide when he can be safely released into the community.
He says if they determine at that time that he’s still a danger, his treatment will continue at a secure psychiatric facility and they will work slowly toward his release.
Adeniran’s lawyer, Rebecca Snukal, tells 660News the hope is her client will be able to lead a relatively normal life as long as he complies with the medication recommendation.
“Certainly what he’s been experiencing for the last five years is not a normal life, so there’s definitely hope from here on in.”
She says this is the best possible outcome for her client, who is now feeling some relief that he’ll receive treatment.
No-one was hurt in the four-hour hostage taking.
