A schizophrenic charged with assaulting a stranger and several police officers who tried to arrest him has been declared unfit to stand trial.

At the same time he made the finding, Judge Heino Lilles commended jail staff and government officials for their work to expedite matters for Marlon Hugh Arscott, 44.

He is currently being held in the now-infamous Segregation 1, a spartan solitary confinement cell at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

One week ago, as he released a decision to find a different mentally-ill man not criminally responsible of his charges, Lilles accused territorial Department of Justice officials of 'total indifference' to the plight of mentally ill people in the care of WCC. That man had also been kept in Segregation 1, also known as 'the hole'.

'I infer from their presence their concern to find the best way to help this defendant,' Lilles said Tuesday afternoon after prosecutor Kevin Drolet noted the several jail officials in the court gallery who'd been particularly helpful in speeding up the process.

This morning, Lilles declared Arscott to be unfit to stand trial at this time based both on his own observations of the man and on reports and assessments presented by the Crown.

On Tuesday afternoon, when the judge spoke to him, Arscott spoke quietly with his head down while seated in the prisoner's box, 'babbling about unrelated matters,' Lilles said. He noted the response had been the same the day before.

Both yesterday and today, two rather than the usual one RCMP guard were in the courtroom. Today, Arscott's wrists were handcuffed in front of him.

This morning when the proceedings continued, Drolet said collecting all the information needed for a hearing into whether Arscott is unfit to stand trial has 'been somewhat of an odyssey.'

After court closed at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Drolet, Justice official Sandy Bryce and the jail's nurse spent a fruitless four hours looking for a doctor to assess Arscott's mental health.

However, with the help of WCC superintendent Don Blaquiere, who provided corrections officers to escort the accused to Whitehorse General Hospital's emergency room, Arscott was assessed this morning.

That doctor found the accused unfit as Arscott does not understand the criminal proceedings or the possible consequences. Nor can he effectively communicate with his lawyer, Drolet recounted.

Court-appointed defence lawyer Gordon Coffin said after speaking to Arscott that some of the man's answers made sense while others did not. The attorney said he'd be 'hard pressed' to mount a defence for the man in the condition he's in.

He said the proposed plan appears to be appropriate.

When an accused is unable to instruct counsel on his own, a court-appointed lawyer represents him in the client's best interests, rather than acting upon a client's requests.

The WGH doctor said it appears Arscott is currently suffering from schizophrenia, a mental disorder that led to a finding of being not criminally responsible for offences in B.C. in the past, Drolet said.

That B.C. finding, along with various assessments and progress reports, were filed as part of the hearing.

Prior reports from B.C. suggest the accused would be unlikely to take medication voluntarily, and he can't be forced to take anti-psychotic medication until he's found unfit to stand trial, Lilles noted.

The Whitehorse doctor who saw Arscott this morning could not offer a firm opinion on whether medication would help the accused be fit to stand trial within 60 days. He did say he thought the man would show 'a marked improvement' seven to 10 days after starting anti-psychotic medication, Drolet said.

Arscott will be administered medication under the supervision of a Whitehorse psychiatrist, who will be examining Arscott this evening and providing an assessment of whether the accused should be found not criminally responsible for his list of assault charges.

In the meantime, the accused is detained in custody in WCC, WGH or any Outside hospital designated by the director of community corrections.

Both that report and Arscott are expected back in court May 11 for a review of the order.

Arrested on Fourth Avenue last Sunday morning, Arscott has been in segregation at WCC ever since for 'stabilization,' Drolet told the court.

The prosecutor had asked yesterday that the director of community corrections be required to bring the matter back to court if Arscott is held in Seg. 1 for more than 72 hours at a stretch or if the man's mental condition worsens.

Last Sunday morning, a 64-year-old man reported being assaulted in the street. Arscott is accused of fighting with four RCMP constables who arrived to arrest him.

He's charged with assaulting the 64-year-old and three of the officers, including breaking the nose of one.