Court of King’s Bench judge Grant Currie has found Thomas Hamp, who fatally stabbed his girlfriend in 2022, not criminally responsible for his actions.
The verdict came down Thursday morning, weeks after Thomas Hamp’s lawyers argued he was suffering from OCD, cannabis use disorder and was on the realm of schizophrenia spectrum.
Hamp admitted to stabbing Emily Sanche during his trial, saying his delusions ramped up in weeks before the attack.
He thought the secret police were coming to take him and Sanche away to “torture and murder them.”
Justice Currie says it’s not a matter of whether or not he killed her, but if he was incapable of knowing it was wrong.
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Brian Pfefferle, Hamp’s defence counsel, argued Hamp suffered from OCD, cannabis use disorder and was on the realm of schizophrenia spectrum.
“There was no other explanation other than that he was not criminally responsible for this,” said Pfefferle. “He was in a delusional state and only a delusional person would harm someone as kind as Emily Sanche.”
Justice Currie made his decision after reviewing Hamp’s explanation of the incident and the weeks leading up and a report from psychiatrist Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe, the trial’s only expert witness to testify.
Dr. Lohrasbe believed Hamp was in a state of psychosis and could not understand that what he was doing was wrong.
Justice Currie says he does not conclude Hamp made up his delusions or killed Sanche for another reason. He accepts Hamp’s evidence as “both credible and reliable,” and Dr. Lohrasbe’s opinion.
The judge concluded that Hamp killed Sanche and “likely was operating under a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of knowing that doing so was wrong.”
Cory Bliss, the senior Crown prosecutor, would not speak on behalf of the Sanche family, but did note they will continue to be involved in the next steps.
“They’re still feeling a lot of pain and just a lot, I suppose, anger towards what happened,” said Bliss.
Hamp will be taken to the North Battleford Hospital where he will remain as the verdict is sent to the Saskatchewan Review Board.
It will take around 45 days for the disposition hearing to be held, where Hamp’s ultimate future will be decided.
The Crown said it’s unclear if it will appeal the decision.
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