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Fugitive charged with attempted murder flew to U.K., then France

Sebastien Normandin, who is facing two charges of attempted murder, jumped bail by flying to England on Oct. 21, and then carrying on to France.
Photo - arrest warrant Normandin
An arrest warrant has been issued for Sebastien Normandin

Sebastien Normandin, who is facing two charges of attempted murder, jumped bail by flying to England on Oct. 21, and then carrying on to France.

That information was revealed Friday in Victoria provincial court as Crown prosecutor Jess Patterson applied to have the $5,000 cash deposit on Normandin’s bail forfeited.

Normandin is charged with two counts of attempted murder after allegedly driving his car at his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend.

Patterson said Normandin left the Montreal area without any explanation. Police obtained a still photograph of him going through customs at Pearson International Airport in Toronto as he boarded a flight to England. He went to France the day he arrived in England.

The Canada Border Services Agency advised police that Normandin has not returned to Canada, and there’s been no further contact with him, Patterson said.

“The reason for the default can only be that he’s absconding for the purpose of evading prosecution,” Patterson told provincial court Judge Jennifer Barrett.

“Justice has been defeated and delayed. More specifically, it’s been delayed because the court can no longer maintain control over the accused.”

Normandin was arrested on Dec. 27, 2016, and charged with attempted murder after police were called to a two-car crash on Gillespie Place in the Rockland neighbourhood of Victoria. He is also charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, criminal harassment and two counts of assault.

Normandin remained in custody until May 30, when Barrett agreed to release him on $5,000 bail with the condition that he fly to Montreal to live there.

The reason for the judge’s decision to require Normandin to live in Montreal is protected by a publication ban on his bail hearing.

Normandin was required to live at a specific address in Montreal and to report to police in person every day.

Those conditions were relaxed in July, and Normandin was allowed to report in person twice a week and by phone the remaining five days.

A Montreal psychologist treating Normandin as part of his bail conditions was the first to notice something was amiss, Patterson said. In mid-October, Dr. Jeffrey Drugge notified the Saanich bail supervisor that Normandin had missed an appointment. The bail supervisor contacted Montreal police.

“They checked their log book and found out he had not signed in since Oct. 16. The last contact Mr. Normandin had with the system was a telephone call with his Saanich bail supervisor on Oct. 19,” Patterson said.

In leaving the country, Normandin breached several bail conditions, including that he stay in Montreal, attend therapy, report to police, and obey a curfew.

A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for his arrest. On Friday, at the request of the Crown, Barrett issued an unendorsed warrant, which means an accused person can’t be released until brought in front of a judge.

Victoria MP Murray Rankin, who is also a lawyer, said if there’s any sense an accused person is a flight risk, the judge presiding over a bail hearing will order the accused to surrender his or her passport.

“It seems like a fairly standard, garden-variety condition that courts will utilize,” Rankin said. “I don’t know the facts of this case, but I honestly think it should be a standard checklist matter. That should be routine. So how it happened here is really surprising.”

If police find Normandin, they can seek his extradition to Canada, Rankin said.

“Canada and France do have an extradition treaty,” he said. “If he’s in France, the next logical question is: ‘Will Canada be pursuing extradition?’ ”

In the meantime, Normandin has been posting Twitter messages under the name Sebastian Normandin. He has a “crowdsourced funding” website for his poetry and other writing. He calls himself a “man of many talents” and “an accomplished academic with a Ph.D. in history and philosophy of science from McGill University.”

On Thursday, he posted this message on Twitter: “Soaked in nostalgia. And cheap wine.”

Victoria lawyer Michael Mulligan said it’s extremely rare for people to flee and the chance of Normandin being tracked down is exceedingly high.

“Canada has one of the best bail supervision systems anywhere in the world,” Mulligan said. “People have to come in and report on a regular basis. That’s why we know this man has fled. We actively supervise people, other than relying upon bail bondsmen and cash, like they do in the U.S.”

Normandin’s bail conditions, which included daily reporting, were extremely tight, he said.

“Ordinarily, if there’s a concern about the flight risk, the person would be required to surrender his passport. I don’t know why it wasn’t included.”

Normandin’s ex-girlfriend has been living in fear since she learned he jumped bail, a source has told the Times Colonist.

“She’s suffering. She’s living her life looking over her shoulder. She believes the court system should never have let someone out on two counts of attempted murder,” said the source.

“She wants to know why he was not required to surrender his passport and why it took victim services two weeks to tell her he fled the country.”

A hearing to deal with the bail forfeiture will be scheduled on Dec. 12.