Accused deemed not responsible for actions

Charged with breaching court orders, possession of weapon for dangerous purpose, causing disturbance

A psychiatric assessment has concluded that Halifax woman charged in connection with two evacuations in Cape Breton should not be held criminally responsible for her actions.

Karin Tara Sorenson, 47, is charged in connection with an evacuation at the Home Depot in Sydney and the Sydney Justice Centre. Both incidents occurred in April.

As a result of the assessment, a hearing will now have to be scheduled to determine if the court will accept such a finding.

Sorenson has been remanded back to the East Coast Forensic Centre in Dartmouth and is scheduled to appear back in court, via video, on June 13 for a status report.

Sorenson was first arrested in Cape Breton after being found wandering in and out of traffic in Groves Point on April 5.

She was released on conditions but was soon back behind bars after she is alleged to have armed herself with a knife and barricaded herself in a shelving unit at Home Depot resulting in an evacuation.

The following week, while still in custody, she is alleged to have triggered a sprinkler head inside the Sydney Justice Centre prompting another brief evacuation of a public building.

She has also refused to talk with lawyers about her case, has demanded a human rights lawyer be appointed to her case and further claimed she was on a hunger strike.

She is charged with four counts of breaching court orders and single counts of possession of weapon for a dangerous purpose and causing a disturbance.