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This article was published 17/2/2017 (1308 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Less than two weeks before he allegedly attacked pedestrians in a downtown-area spree of unprovoked violence, a 28-year-old homeless Winnipeg man stood before a judge and promised to "behave from now on," blaming his bizarre behaviour on illegal drugs and dismissing the suggestion of mental-health treatment.

Michael Ryan Fitzsimmons is charged with assault with a weapon, six counts of assault causing bodily harm, mischief under $5,000 and 24 counts of failing to comply with a probation order stemming from what the Winnipeg Police Service described as a random series of assaults on seven people, two of whom suffered serious injuries, the morning of Feb. 7.

Fitzsimmons had been released from custody 12 days earlier after he pleaded guilty and was let out on time served for three similar unprovoked assaults on strangers in Winnipeg and Brandon between July and October 2016. In each case, he approached random victims on the street and punched or "bodychecked" them.

In a Brandon Canadian Tire parking lot in July, he punched a man in the face and then threatened to hit him with a large rock. The force of the blow would’ve severely hurt someone elderly or less physically capable, the victim later told the Crown prosecutor in the case. In August, Fitzsimmons punched and bodychecked two men in Winnipeg Square, and just before his arrest in October, he delivered a "hockey-style bodycheck" on a woman walking along William Avenue near King Street, knocking her to the ground and leaving her with a minor concussion, whiplash and a pinched nerve.

"I haven’t been myself lately, and I’m just sorry for my behaviour. I’ll try to behave from now on," Fitzsimmons told provincial court Judge Robert Heinrichs during sentencing less than two weeks before the most recent string of assaults.

"I’m hoping that you weren’t yourself because if this was planned and deliberate behaviour, it’s pretty bizarre — bodychecking and punching and everything," the judge said.

"Yeah. Yeah, I’m very sorry. I’m kind of ashamed of myself," replied Fitzsimmons, who has a record of assault, mischief, arson and theft convictions dating back to 2012.

While in custody, the Brandon-born 28-year-old was assessed as showing signs of psychosis and paranoid delusions but was deemed fit to stand trial, court heard. He told the judge he wasn’t taking medication or receiving treatment for a mental illness.

"I was doing other drugs, street drugs, that I probably shouldn’t have been doing at the time, and I think they’re out of my system now," Fitzsimmons said. "I think I just need to quit the drugs, and I wouldn’t need the psychiatry at all."

When Fitzsimmons was sentenced Jan. 26, Crown attorney Maria Bettencourt told Heinrichs he "has no insight into the possibility of having a mental illness or the potential benefit of having treatment."

Fitzsimmons had been in custody since his Oct. 21 arrest and was released under a two-year probation order that included a condition he receive counselling.

Defence lawyer Jackson Mugerwa told court it was "hard to get information" from his client but that he’d previously worked in the construction industry and was trying to find a job in Winnipeg while seeking shelter most of the time at the Main Street project.

"Obviously, there are issues that he has to work with, and hopefully he realizes that this kind of behaviour is really concerning, and it has ended up getting him into custody for quite a while," Mugerwa said at the time.

Fitzsimmons is presumed innocent of the charges before the court.

He’s accused of assaulting the first victim at River Avenue and Osborne Street at 7:30 a.m. Feb. 7 and a second victim in the same area about five minutes later. A third victim was assaulted around 7:45 a.m. at Broadway and Edmonton Street, a fourth was attacked at 7:50 a.m. at Hargrave Street and St. Mary Avenue, and a fifth was assaulted at 7:55 a.m. at St. Mary and Garry Street. Around 8 a.m., a sixth victim was attacked in the 300 block of York Avenue, and a seventh victim was assaulted around 10:30 a.m. at Main Street and Pioneer Avenue.

katie.may@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @thatkatiemay