Counsel for a man accused of attacking a tourist on Vancouver’s seawall last year is seeking to have his client found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.
Peterhans Nungu, 35, admitted he assaulted the complainant, who was visiting from Toronto, according to an Agreed Statement of Facts read in provincial court Tuesday.
“I’m very sorry,” Nungu said outside court in reference to the April 15, 2025 incident. “That will never happen again.”
While he is charged with assault causing bodily harm, Nungu’s lawyer has requested the court order an assessment of his client’s mental condition, under Section 672.11(b) of the Canadian Criminal Code.
“At the time of the offence, it’s clear that Mr. Nungu was suffering from a mental disorder and quite frankly, if it’s granted, he would be found not criminally responsible for his actions that day,” defence counsel Leo Fumano told Global News.
Court heard the complainant, who posted about the incident in a series of TikTok videos and observed Tuesday’s hearing via video, was walking back from Stanley Park to her hotel along the Coal Harbour seawall shortly after midnight on April 15, 2025, when a stranger approached and tried speaking to her.
The unknown man was the accused, Peterhans Nungu, said prosecutor Tyler MacLean as he read from the Agreed Statement of Facts.
Not comfortable speaking with Nungu, the complainant did not respond.
“Nungu took offence and started to follow (her),” MacLean told the court. “Nungu began berating (her) and calling her names like bitch and slut.”
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The complainant kept walking away from Nungu, who approached her from behind and threw her down to the ground.
She got up and walked away from Nungu as fast as she could, court heard, but he kept following her and yelling at her.
When the complainant started running and tried to call 911, Nungu caught up with her, grabbed her again, and threw her phone to the sidewalk “smashing it and rendering it inoperable.”
Nungu, MacLean told the court, then grabbed the woman and threw her back on the ground.
“While (she) was on the ground, Nungu punched her with closed fists multiple times in the head and the face,” according to the Agreed Statement of Facts. “(The complainant) was screaming for help while trying to push and kick Nungu away.”
The woman managed to get up and run a short distance towards her hotel, court heard, before Nungu caught up with her and threw her hard onto the ground.
“(She) fell…and hit her head on a concrete planter,” said MacLean.
The complainant briefly lost consciousness and awoke to Mr. Nungu “tearing at her clothes”.
Court heard she continued screaming and trying to fight off Nungu until bystanders intervened, pulling him off and holding him until police arrived.
Once arrested, police noted there was blood on Nungu’s clothing.
According to the Agreed Statement of Facts, the complainant was taken to hospital and treated for several “immediately visible” injuries: a golf ball sized bruise on her upper right forehead, a golf ball sized bump on her left cheek, a two centimetre laceration on the bridge of her nose, a one centimetre laceration on her upper right eyebrow, an abrasion on her right knee, and an abrasion and cuts on the top and inside of her hands.
In the days following the assault, the complainant’s eye had swollen shut, Crown told the court.
While in custody, court heard Nungu was seen talking gibberish for about four minutes before police entered the interview room.
“It’s clear that the circumstances are quite unusual and bizarre,” said Fumano. “And then on observation by the police, it was clear that he was rambling nonsensically to himself in a mix of English and French.”
Once police arrived, Nungu provided “a coherent statement and admitted to police that he assaulted (the complainant) in the manner she alleged,” according to the Agreed Statement of Facts.
“I’m very sorry, I’m sincerely sorry,” Nungu told Global News, adding he’s doing much better now.
Fumano confirmed his client’s mental health has improved.
Following his arrest, court heard police seized Nungu’s passport from Cameroon and his Canadian permanent residency card.
Although Nungu was granted bail and released from custody on April 23, 2025, the VPD said he was transferred to hospital where he remained under medical supervision until his release May 20.
Nungu was ordered to live with his mother at her Vancouver housing complex under several conditions – including 24/7 house arrest, not possessing weapons or knives, and not possessing or consuming alcohol or non-prescription drugs.
“He’s been under very, very strict conditions for over a year,” said Fumano. “He has not breached any of those conditions, he’s abided by the conditions and he’s been working with a mental health professional since that day.”
Judge Andrea Brownstone agreed to order an assessment to determine if Nungu was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the offence so as to be exempt from criminal responsibility.
Crown counsel told the court it is not opposed to the defence’s application for a mental health report to be completed.
A date for what’s expected to be a two-day hearing has yet to be scheduled.
