A 71-year-old Whitehorse man who has appealed his conviction on an assault charge is no longer required to attend a disposition hearing before the Yukon Review Board.

Yukon Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale ruled in a written decision that 'the obligation of (Tim Waranuk) to appear before the Yukon Review Board for a disposition hearing ... is suspended pending determination of the written appeal.'

Waranuk filed his notice of appeal last Nov. 16.

Although Waranuk was convicted of assault last Oct. 19, he was found exempt from criminal responsibility due to a mental disorder and received no sentence.

Waranuk represented himself at the trial. Eric Marcoux was the Crown prosecutor.

Territorial court judge John Faulkner made his decision after the three-day trial, before which Waranuk had pleaded not guilty.

Waranuk appealed the decision on the grounds that 'the trial was unfair and limited the ability of the accused to provide full answers and defence to the said charge.'

The written grounds for appeal also said Waranuk 'was prevented from conducting full and complete cross-examination of the witnesses, including the psychiatrist, Dr. Armando Heredia,' and 'did not receive complete and timely disclosure of the evidence intended to be led in the trial ... including the disclosure of the psychiatric opinion of Dr. Heredia.'

Waranuk's assault charge stemmed from an incident that occurred on Dec. 14, 2006.

On that day, Waranuk went to the Second Avenue office of Yukon MP Larry Bagnell to resolve an issue relating to his eligibility for the old age pension.

The court file states Waranuk 'had suffered considerable frustration from what he considered to be an unreasonable response from the various bureaucrats involved.

'He felt he was getting the run-around and, for some reason, in short, it seemed that the government had ganged up on him to deny him his pension. So he was clearly frustrated.'

An assistant at Bagnell's office wanted Waranuk to sign a release, so records relating to his medical insurance coverage could be provided to old age security officials, to prove Waranuk's residency.

This request made Waranuk 'extremely upset because, in his view, he is a native-born Canadian and he is not required to produce proof of residence.'

As the assistant attempted to escort the agitated Waranuk from the office, Waranuk punched her several times and kicked another employee who tried to intervene, the court file states.

Although the evidence that this incident occurred was 'overwhelming' in the court's view, Waranuk protested during the trial.

'These people here all know me. They know I am not some kind of guy that goes punching women around town,' he said.

Waranuk grew frustrated and agitated during the trial. At one point, he told the court, 'It's shameful what you do, shame, shame, shame, shame on both of you, shame, shame on you.'

In his report, Heredia wrote that Waranuk 'acted out aggressively and with poor judgment during a moment of rage based on the paranoid delusional belief that he was the victim of a general conspiracy against him.'

Heredia was unable to provide a more specific diagnosis beyond stating that Waranuk suffers from a mental disorder 'characterized by paranoid delusions which centre on the legal system, the police, and the government' because he did not have access to Waranuk's past medical records.

Heredia was 'clearly of the opinion that Waranuk was not criminally responsible (for his actions),' said the court file.

Waranuk expressed his dissent for the decision during the trial.

'I want ... to appeal this case right now. I do not suffer (from) some mental disorder. You could not prove it,' he told the court.

'You're on a witch hunt. You brought the witch doctor in. I don't even think he's qualified to be a psychiatrist,' he said.