Bail in snatched baby case

The man accused of grabbing an infant out of a mother's arms before stripping naked and jumping into Okanagan Lake was released on bail Wednesday, after spending the last week undergoing an assessment at a psychiatric hospital.

Giffen Nyren, a 30-year-old Calgary man, was charged with assault and resisting arrest following the frightening incident in Kelowna's City Park on the afternoon of April 28. The child was unharmed.

Nyren was certified under the Mental Health Act, which is done when a person is in a mental state that could put themselves or others at risk of harm.

On May 1, the court ordered Nyren undergo a comprehensive assessment at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Port Coquitlam.

Not long after arriving at the hospital, doctors determined Nyren should no longer be certified under the Mental Health Act, based on his condition, and on Wednesday, Justice Andrew Tam granted Nyren bail.

“It was determined that the assessment of his state of mind at the time the incident occurred will continue, but not on an in-custody basis, it'll be done on an out-of-custody basis here in Kelowna through Interior Health,” said Nyren's lawyer Grant Gray.

Through the video feed from the Port Coquitlam hospital in court Wednesday, Nyren appeared lucid, and he thanked the judge after he was granted bail.

“All seems good, beyond that I can't say,” Gray said about Nyren's current condition.

He's expected to appear back in Kelowna court on June 13, after his assessment is completed.