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This article was published 24/2/2015 (2034 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The son of Manitoba’s conservation minister has been found not criminally responsible for robbing a Winnipeg credit union while claiming he had a bomb in his briefcase.

Gordon Mackintosh, 24, learned his fate Tuesday. Doctors told court that Mackintosh was suffering major side-effects of medication treating his anxiety and depression which left him unable to appreciate his actions. They concluded Mackintosh was in a state of "delirium" at the time because the dose had been halved and he began taking it every other day.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Rick Saull took no issue with the medical reports in making his finding. Mackintosh will now be under the care of the provincial review board but is likely to remain free in the community, as he has since shortly after his arrest.

Unlike other NCR cases, Mackintosh is not suffering from a major mental illness which requires ongoing treatment.

"The accused is not a significant threat to the safety of the public," defence lawyer Josh Weinstein said Tuesday.

Mackintosh is the son of Gord Mackintosh, who is also a former provincial justice minister.

Court heard he walked into the Assiniboine Credit Union at 2211 McPhillips St. on April 20, 2012, wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and a fake moustache and carrying a briefcase. When Mackintosh approached a teller, he passed her a letter demanding money and saying he had a bomb in the briefcase.

When Mackintosh put the briefcase on the counter and opened it, the teller saw a white box with red-and-black wires coming from it. The teller put a $100 dollar bill into the briefcase and Mackintosh left, driving off in his mother's car.

When Mackintosh testified, he said he remembered little about the incident and only turned himself in to police after his mother first recognized his photograph in the most-wanted section of a local newspaper.

Margaret Mackintosh, his mother, told court that when her son picked her up on the day of the robbery "he wasn't himself."

"He just looked at me. Gordie wasn't saying anything. He was quiet. Extremely quiet. He was pale - almost ghost-like," she said.

—with files from Kevin Rollason

www.mikeoncrime.com