A 24-year-old man accused of assaulting an elderly couple in their Selkirk home in 2016 has pleaded not guilty by account of mental disorder.

Defence lawyer Matt Gould says his client, Justin Allan Bannab, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was suffering from psychosis in April 2016, when he assaulted an 88-year-old man and sexually assaulted an 85-year-old woman who used a wheelchair.

“He’s not criminally responsible. It’s very sad. It’s horrible at every level. But he’s not criminally responsible,” Gould said outside the Winnipeg courthouse Tuesday.

“Mr. Bannab believed if he didn’t follow through with these acts, the world would come to an end.”

Both the defence and the Crown agreed in a statement of facts that on April 3, 2016, Justin Bannab—then 22-years-old—entered the home of an elderly couple, beat the 88-year-old man with a broom and sexually assaulted the 85-year-old woman. Before Bannab entered the home through an unlocked screen door, the man was sitting at his kitchen table eating an evening snack and his wife was in bed.

The Crown said the man—who is now dead and cannot be named because of the nature of the charges—told police he was struck 30 times with a broom handle, which was ultimately broken. His wife suffered serious injuries including a significant skull fracture.

The trial by judge only will determine if Bannab is criminally responsible for the crimes.

On Tuesday, the Crown called four police officers to the stand to testify on their interactions with Bannab during his arrest, police interviews and fingerprinting. Officers testified Bannab had turned himself in by knocking on the door of a man who lived nearby, telling him to call police because he “had done something bad.” When officers arrived to arrest Bannab, court heard he was kneeling in the middle of the street in a prayer-like position with his hand in the air.

Cpl. Leif Svendsen, who was working in Selkirk in April 2016, said Bannab was cooperative and appeared to understand what was being asked of him when it came time to collect DNA samples.

“Did you have any difficulty communicating with him at that point in time?” Crown attorney Chantal Boutin asked Cpl. Svendsen.

“Not at all,” he responded.

When asked to comment on his observable mental state, Cpl. Svendsen said, “He was calm, quiet, compliant. He wasn’t a problem to deal with at all. He appeared though to be a little perturbed or frustrated or out of sorts when it came to having to provide them (DNA sample).”

The defence is scheduled to call its witnesses in January. On Wednesday, the Crown will submit Bannab’s statement to police.