A Vernon woman who was found not criminally responsible of an attempted child abduction due to a mental disorder has once again been denied release from a psychiatric hospital.
It's the fifth unsuccessful appeal for Gabriel Hunter Gibson, who has been held at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam since 2018, following a 2016 incident on a public bus in which she grabbed a four-year-old boy by the wrist and told the boy's great grandmother that he was her child. Another passenger intervened to prevent the abduction.
Gibson's fifth appeal of a decision by the BC Review Board to keep her in the psychiatric hospital followed a mandatory annual review.
In the B.C. Court of Appeal decision issued Wednesday, May 21, Justice W. Paul Riley dismissed the appeal, saying Gibson "continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public" and calling the Review Board's decision reasonable under the circumstances.
Gibson has a lengthy history of mental illness. Now in her 40s, she became acutely psychiatrically unwell around the age of 18, according to a Review Board disposition.
"She has been variously diagnosed with treatment-resistant schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, and substance use disorder, in remission in a controlled environment. Ms. Gibson suffers from severe and persistent psychotic symptoms, including delusions about having her own children and communicating with them telepathically. She believes that children acknowledge her as their mother through looks and glances and convey a desire to be with her," the disposition states.
According to the Review Board, Gibson has had a “challenging year that has been characterized by a fluctuating mental state, behavioural problems, and violent incidents," with “minimal ability to tolerate stressors” such as upcoming court appearances.
A doctor who assessed Gibson said her most relevant risk factor continues to be her treatment-resistant schizoaffective disorder. The doctor concluded that without prescribed medications and treatments, her mental state is unlikely to change and she could be prone to "violent behaviours" if allowed out of the hospital.
Gibson testified at the appeal hearing, telling the Review Board she wanted to live in the community and had been working on plans to do so. She said if she was released, she would follow up with psychiatric care. While she said she no longer craved cannabis, she said if released she would consider resuming methamphetamine use "because it helps her to think more clearly," the decision states.
Justice Riley sided with the Review Board, saying its decision reasonably balances protection of the public with Gibson's freedom.
"I see nothing in any of Ms. Gibson’s submissions to suggest that the Review Board disposition involves any miscarriage of justice," the judge said.
He noted that Gibson had said it was unfair and unconstitutional that the total amount of time she has spent detained at the psychiatric hospital now exceeds the maximum jail sentence for her offence.
The judge said this argument "rests on a failure to appreciate that detention of an individual found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder is not a form of punishment, but rather a necessary and justifiable form of state intervention that achieves the dual aims of protecting the public and treatment of the individual."
Gibson has a history of criminal activity dating back before the 2016 attempted child abduction, with offences including assault and automobile theft. She also has other earlier incidents of attempted child abduction. For many of these incidents she was also found not criminally responsible, according to the decision.
