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Ayanle Hassan Ali, the mentally ill man who attacked military personnel at a Yonge St. recruiting centre three years ago, will not be retried as a terrorist.

Ontario’s highest court agreed with the trial judge who found section 83.2 of the Criminal Code — the anti-terrorism section enacted by Parliament after 9/11 — isn’t designed to capture a “lone wolf.”

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In May 2018, Superior Court Justice Ian MacDonnell acquitted Ali on the terror part of the indictment, finding that while he was motivated by extremist beliefs linked to his mental illness, he wasn’t acting on behalf of any terror group.

Instead, the judge found him not criminally responsible for the lesser included offences of attempted murder, assault causing bodily harm and possession of a dangerous weapon.

Federal prosecutors had urged the appeal court to order a new trial on the terrorism charges, insisting MacDonnell was mistaken and Ali did act “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group” — a group composed of himself alone.