Richard Kachkar, who has been found not criminally responsible for killing a police officer in Toronto, is released on parole

A man who was found not criminally responsible for killing a Toronto police officer with a stolen snowplow was conditionally released from a Durham Region mental health facility.

The Ontario Review Board decided to release Richard Kachkar hearing on July 13th.

In 2013, a jury decided that Kachkar was in a psychotic state when, on January 11, 2011, he stole a snow plow and struck Sgt. Ryan Russell, who tried to intervene

Chairman of the Board Richard Schneider, said that the release of Kachkar is subject to a number of conditions.

He will continue to live in a transitional home and will have to report to the Ontario Shores Mental Health Sciences Center in Whitby once every two weeks, Schneider said

. weapons or using non-medical drugs. "A violation of one of these conditions would mean that it would be stopped anywhere in Canada, with or without a warrant," Schneider said.

"The decision only means that his condition is sufficiently well controlled and that he no longer needs hospital care."

After being found not criminally responsible, Kachkar was sent to live in Center of the shores of Ontario.

A person found not criminally responsible in court is subject to a number of conditions and is subject to annual reviews.

In 2015, in the opinion of the Ontario Review Board, Kachkar was transferred to a lower security unit. center and allowed limited traffic in the Durham area while under the supervision of another person.

A year later, a decision of the board of directors stated that Kachkar was a "low risk" to act violently. He was then allowed to gradually transition to life in the community, with minimal supervision and professional support.

Sgt. Russell's widow, Christine Russell, once expressed her concern about Kachkar's release, saying that she would still consider him a "murderer".

"He's going to go, no one will remember," she said in 2017, when Kachkar was sent to live in a supervised housing program, with daily visits from # 39; mental health agents.

"He killed someone.This is not a slight question and I know (the board members) are very cautious in their decision making, but I do not think that any of them had to walk in our shoes and know the hell we went through … There is no guarantee that this could not be more "

Schneider said that the council has more than 1,500 cases like Kachkar's, and the board is constantly reviewing them to impose conditions that are the least restrictive for the accused while protecting the public, "he said.

Karen DeFreitas, Medical Director of Forensic Psychiatry at the Whitby Center the patient receives a conditional release while he has already lived in the community and that he has a history of positive and stable behavior.

"There is no perfect security, but people can rest badured that the person has been well cared for.

"I understand the frustration, but when a person is not criminally responsible for his action, it's about rehabilitation and not about punishment.

Gilbert Ngabo is a Toronto-based reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @dugilbo