The head of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association says the courts have to do a better job of handling mentally ill criminals after a man was banished from his hometown.

Mikael Arrak, 26, was convicted of criminal harassment and ordered by a judge in Nelson, B.C., to leave the city.

Arrak, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, was found guilty after speaking to the mother of his ex-girlfriend on the street. Arrak had previously been convicted of harassment and ordered not to speak with his former girlfriend or her family.

At a hearing on Monday in B.C. provincial court, Arrak was ordered to board a Greyhound bus by noon on Jan. 13 and instructed not to return to the city until his probation period ends in about 18 months.

"I think this story really illustrates the struggles of our criminal justice system to deal with mental health issues in a constructive way," said B.C. Civil Liberties Association executive director David Eby.

"Banishing someone from a city where they have what few contacts and family that they do have is not a solution to problems of criminality caused by mental health."

No argument

Neither Arrak nor his lawyer, duty counsel Kenyon McGee, argued against the banishment order.

His mother Annely Arrak, a Russian immigrant, said her son has no other family in the area. He is unable to hold a job because of his mental illness and has no money or a place to go. She said the criminal justice system is pushing her son onto the street.

Eby said the decision is incredibly disappointing.

"In my mind, just hearing this story, I can't help but feel that every part of the justice system — from this man's lawyer to the Crown counsel to the judge — let this man down by not recognizing the impact that this decision may have by essentially sending him to live in the streets."

In 2008, Robert Inglis, known as an aggressive panhandler, was banned from Williams Lake, B.C., for two years. However, the city had wanted to ban Inglis permanently.

"Every once in a while, we'll see a case — usually from a smaller centre — involving the suggestion that a person should be banished for various activities, including panhandling or camping in parks or petty crime," Eby said.

"Generally speaking, we're very opposed to the idea, because often these are the places where the people know resources, where they know the social workers, where the social workers know them, and if you send them to another city, they completely lose touch with all of these essential safety factors that they need."