A man who unleashed a series of attacks in downtown Vancouver last year while on probation for making threats against Canada’s deputy prime minister has been found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD).
At a hearing in Vancouver Provincial Court Wednesday, Kent Meades, 46, entered guilty pleas to eight of the nine charges he was facing in relation to his actions on March 20, 2024.
Meades admitted to aggravated assault, three counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of uttering threats, and one count each of assault and mischief, while a charge of obstructing a peace officer was stayed by the Crown.
Police said Meades had been discharged from Fraser Regional Correctional Centre six days prior to the crime spree, which culminated in a random stabbing.
The court heard evidence from an expert witness who testified Meades was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder bipolar type, and did not have the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the offences.
Both Crown and defence counsel made submissions to the court on why Meades should be found NCRMD.
An Agreed Statement of Facts filed at the Vancouver Provincial Court registry outlines the events of the chaotic day in question.
According to the document, Meades encountered a stranger a few blocks from Waterfront Station around 8:40 a.m. and began “spontaneously punching him in the head and face while saying something like ‘just pick up just one cigarette butt.’”
The man was able to run away while Meades continued to yell at him before picking up a cigarette butt himself and walking away.
About six minutes later, Meades entered Deville Coffee nearby and started throwing chairs at the window, causing one to shatter and a bar stool to split in half.
He then turned to the customers inside and held up another chair before putting it down and walking out, the document states.
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Security video then captured Meades going to his home at the Cobalt Hotel where he changed some of his clothes and “appears to have armed himself,” according to the documents.
Around 11:20 a.m., Meades passed a man in the 800-block of Main Street and again, “for no discernable reason, (he) turned around brandishing a knife in his hand and yelling ‘you picked up any garbage recently?’”
Meades chased the victim causing him to fall and scrape his hands, knee and hip.
Some 30 minutes later, Meades showed up at the intersection of Smithe and Beatty streets, where he caused a disturbance and attracted the attention of passers-by, who described him as “appearing high” and holding a knife.
Meades struck one man in the head but that victim largely dodged the hit and quickly walked away, according to the court filing.
His attacker followed him briefly, stating “If I see you again, I will kill you.”
Meades also came up behind another young man and lit a portion of the back of his shirt on fire, burning through in one spot and causing minor burns to his back.
Meades also threatened to kill this person if he ever saw him again, the filings state.
As this series of random attacks was unfolding, a 61-year-old business executive passed by on his way to work and was spotted by Meades, who changed course on the sidewalk to intercept him.
Meades stabbed the man in the chest before police tasered and arrested him a short distance away.
The filings state Meades continued to walk with the knife when an officer pulled her firearm and shouted “Police! Stop! Get down on the ground.”
The 61-year-old victim’s stab wound was non-life threatening and he has fully recovered.
After declining access to legal counsel, Meades made several statements after his arrest including, “I am sorry about this, it’s about doing things that have to happen.”
In his statement to police, Meades was calm and polite but expressed obvious delusions about how no one was helping him with “his mission from God to clean up.”
He complained “they wouldn’t even pick up a cigarette butt” and explained he “wanted to strike fear in people and that his plan was to escalate as needed, even to the point of killing someone if required.”
Meades, according to the document, said he hated Western people and targeted the executive because of the suit he was wearing. He also claimed to have saved the world from Vladimir Putin and nuclear war.
Meades gave “clear and unprompted recollections of most of the assaults” and denied being a drug user.
He admitted he was a recovered alcoholic who last drank in May 2022 and a cannabis user but said “the messages from God did not come any more or less frequently when he smoked marijuana.”
Meades confirmed he was diagnosed bipolar but did not see himself as being in a manic episode although he said he hadn’t taken his medication “in a while.”
While on remand last April, Meades was certified and taken to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital.
He has remained in a mental health unit since returning to North Fraser Pretrial Centre last May.
Judge Eugene Jamieson adopted the joint submission from Crown and defence and deferred Meades’ disposition to the B.C. Review Board.
Crown sought and was granted a detention order for Meades, who will remain in custody until the Review Board hearing, which must occur within 45 days.
Meades had been sentenced to 148 days in jail and three years of probation in December 2023, after being convicted of threatening to cause death or bodily harm to Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland in August of that year.
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