Mental exam of abductor needed to protect children, Crown says

VANCOUVER — A psychiatric assessment of a French woman who abducted her children is the only way to determine whether she will take her children again, a prosecutor said.

Crown lawyer Gail Dickson told B.C. Supreme Court that Nathalie Gettliffe’s actions — defying court orders, making extreme allegations against her children’s father — and her risk of reoffending back up the need for a psychiatric exam.

“There are grave concerns,” Ms. Dickson told the judge as she outlined Ms. Gettliffe’s actions since abducting her two children to France from Canada in 2001. “The purpose of this is to protect the children.”

Ms. Gettliffe has already pleaded guilty to two counts of abducting her son and daughter. The assessment would take place before her sentencing, but she opposes a psychiatric review and her lawyer later told the court there’s no basis for one.

“There’s no evidence of suicidal tendencies, clinical depression or paranoia,” Richard Fowler argued. “The Criminal Code does not empower psychiatric fishing trips.”

Madam Justice Marvyn Koenigsberg said she will hand down her decision on the assessment today.

Ms. Dickson said that after taking the children, Ms. Gettliffe called their father, Scott Grant, and told him she had had enough of the court system — unless he complied with her orders, he would never see the children again.

In a later fax, she told him that if he visited their village, she couldn’t guarantee his security because its 1,100 residents were determined to lynch him. “She made extreme allegations against the children’s father,” Ms. Dickson said.

Even though it was rumoured in France that Mr. Grant was a member of a cult, courts there granted custody of the children, now 12 and 11, to their father. Ms. Gettliffe repeatedly defied the court orders.

“You need the assistance of a psychiatric assessment to determine what is driving this accused,” Ms. Dickson said.

Ms. Dickson also noted that Ms. Gettliffe is a candidate for the French presidency, although Mr. Fowler said that’s irrelevant.

“From my point of view, I’m not interested in running for the presidency of any country. I would think anybody who was prepared to put themselves in that position would be crazy, to use the vernacular,” he said. But he said nothing should be read into the fact except that his client is a highly talented woman who speaks both French and English.

Mr. Fowler argued that there are specific grounds for the Crown to ask for a psychiatric assessment. He said there is no allegation that Ms. Gettliffe poses a danger or that she isn’t fit to stand trial because of a mental disability.

“Acts of irrationality or acting stupidly, as determined by others, doesn’t mean they’re determined to be mentally ill,” he said.

Ms. Gettliffe was pregnant when she returned to Canada in April to defend her thesis at the University of British Columbia. She delivered a boy while awaiting trial.

Mr. Fowler said she also successfully defended her thesis, but professors at the University of British Columbia had to travel to a Fraser Valley correctional centre to hear her arguments.

A lawyer for Ms. Gettliffe said in a custody hearing held Wednesday that Crown prosecutors want a two-year jail term.

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