A man who called the Toronto Star to explain why he had taken three women hostage at an Eglinton West massage parlour will be released on time served Thursday and put on probation for two years.

One of the conditions of his probation is to get mental health treatment or counselling as recommended by his probation officer, and allow them to monitor his progress.

Michael Storms, 37, pleaded guilty to three counts of forcible confinement in April.

Justice Katherine Corrick said at the sentencing hearing that Storms had recently lost his job, was estranged from his family and was concerned about surveillance by the RCMP and CSIS when he committed the crimes.

He felt he had no option other than to “create a public crisis” by taking the women hostage and calling a national newspaper “to bring attention to his plight,” she said.

In doing this he “created a dangerous situation” for himself, the victims, police and the public, she said.

According to an agreed statement of facts read at his spring plea hearing, Storms went to Studio 9 Spa on June 28, 2017, gathered three female employees together and had one lock the door. He eventually let two of the women go, after one papered over the windows, locking the door behind them.

After several hours, police safely negotiated Storms’s surrender and the hostage’s release. Storms was arrested without incident and none of the victims were injured, the Crown said in the agreed statement of facts.

In an hour-long phone call he made to the Star newsroom that day, Storms said: “I’ve needed help for a long time, OK? And nobody will listen. The only way to do this is to create a situation. A crisis, OK? Which is what I’m doing. So I took a hostage. Are you listening to me?”

In a recording of the call, a woman can be heard crying and pleading for help in the background. The call was transferred to the police after about 45 minutes.

Read more:

‘I took a hostage. Are you listening to me?’

Transcript: How the hostage-taking unfolded after the Toronto Star became involved

‘Do you need help with that?’ How a Star editor ended up handling a crisis call

Storms, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and grey pants, flashed a thumbs up to his sister as he entered the court for his sentencing in handcuffs. He has spent the last two years and six days in the Toronto South Detention Centre, in solitary confinement by choice.

Originally from Halifax, he bounced around nearly 50 foster and group homes after he was taken away from his mother, at around age 11, his lawyer Caryma Sa’d said at the sentencing.

He suffered both physical and sexual abuse, she said, but started to turn his life around when he converted to Islam at age 20.

Storms lived in various cities across Canada, and often stayed in Islamic centres. He eventually became concerned that the RCMP and CSIS were watching him, something he expressed during his call with the Star.

“As it turned out he was (being watched)” Corrick said, referencing a 2015 email an RCMP officer sent to Storms confirming he was under surveillance, and that Storms’ passport was taken away in 2013.

The RCMP did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

In 2014, the National Post reported that a Toronto man named Muhammed Islam — the name Storms said he adopted after converting to Islam at age 20 — was named as one of around 90 high-risk travellers whose passports were seized to prevent extremist violence.

Sa’d told the Star after the hearing that Storms denounces terrorism, something he also expressed during his 2017 call. He will live with a sister in Lethbridge, Alberta following his release. Other conditions of his probation include giving a DNA sample, and not having contact with the victims.

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In putting in place the mental health treatment conditions of the probation, Corrick noted her responsibility is to protect the public. She has “no idea if he has an illness that has been diagnosed or untreated,” and that the same problems that triggered the incident could still be ongoing.

“It’s very easy to fall through the cracks,” she said.

“It’s never going to stop in terms of surveillance from these agencies,” said Storms from the prisoners box. “I don’t intend to fall through the cracks.”