A dangerous offender hearing for Leslie Black, who pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Marlene Bird in Prince Albert, Sask., is heading into the final phase.
Disfigured and in a wheelchair, Bird attended court on Monday and has made it a point to come face to face with the man who attacked her on June 1, 2014.
READ MORE: Leslie Black capable of extreme violence: psychiatrist
The crime stunned the entire province, a homeless woman so viciously attacked both her legs had to be amputated after being stomped on and set on fire.
Court heard from a forensic psychologist, who weighed in on Leslie Black’s risk of re-offending on day six of his dangerous offender hearing.
Dr. Terry Nicholaichuk has assessed more than one-thousand individuals, including Black, and has participated in over one-hundred dangerous offender hearings.
READ MORE: ‘It used to be for the worst of the worst’: dangerous offender designation
During his testimony, Nicholaichuk said there is no conclusive link between the severity of a crime and the risk of subsequent offences, but having reviewed the photos of Bird’s injuries, the attack was nothing short of brutal.
“In the absence of some sort of suitable intervention, I put his risk for some sort of new violence at 20 per cent over four years,” Nicholaichuk said to Global News outside court.
During this hearing and a past hearing, witnesses have testified Black has intellectual disabilities, substance abuse issues and chronic PTSD after watching his mother being stabbed to death on his ninth birthday.
According to Nicholaichuk, Black would need high intensity programming and for his own safety should be moved to a facility outside of the Prairie provinces.
“I think if nothing changes, he will get around to hurting somebody, I just can’t tell you how severely that person will be injured.”
The psychologist also testified that in spite of Black’s limitations, he was reasonably good at recognizing his own shortcomings.
“I think there’s a possibility he could learn to function in society to some degree but nobody really knows at this point because nobody has attempted any suitable intervention this his case.”
By mid-afternoon on Monday, it was still unclear if Black himself would take the stand when court resumed on Tuesday.
Defence counsel indicated that if Black was to testify, it would have no other evidence to call upon, concluding the hearing in seven days that was originally scheduled to run 10.
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