The Ontario government says it is “premature” to allow a man who killed a Toronto police officer with a stolen snowplow escorted trips into the community before doctors are able to properly diagnose his mental illness.

The Ontario Court of Appeal heard arguments Monday on whether Richard Kachkar should be allowed staff-escorted visits into the community as he receives treatment at the Ontario Shores mental health facility in Whitby, Ont.

Kachkar, 47, was found not criminally responsible for the 2011 death of Sgt. Ryan Russell last year. The verdict meant no prison time or criminal record for Kachkar, but he would have to take treatment and submit to an annual appearance before the Ontario Review Board (ORB).

At the first review board hearing in 2013, his lawyer and the Crown submitted a joint recommendation for where Kachkar should be treated and what privileges he should be granted, including walking the grounds of the hospital while escorted.

In its decision, however, the board went a step further and said Kachkar should also be able to enter the community with an escort.

That decision prompted a Crown appeal, with Crown attorney Eric Siebenmorgen arguing Monday that the ORB erred in making that decision as such trips could put the public at “undue risk.”

According to his doctors, Kachkar has been a model patient and has not shown any active psychosis since his first hearing in April 2013, when he was first detained.

As a result, Kachkar's lawyers argue that the ORB was right in its decision to allow him escorted trips into the community.

Dr. Karen DeFreitas, who treated Kachkar between April and July of 2013, has said the decision was appropriate in Kachkar's case.

According to his lawyers' summary of her affidavit: "the respondent has been clinically stable throughout his time at Ontario Shores and has not displayed any symptoms of active psychosis."

She added "while at Ontario Shores, the respondent has exhibited both remorse regarding the index offence and good insight and judgment into his current situation and the need to comply with treatment."

But Siebenmorgen says not enough is known about Kachkar's condition and what triggered his psychotic break.

The three psychiatrists who assessed Kachkar for his trial were not able to agree on a diagnosis. One of the doctors who testified at the Ontario Review Board hearing said he could only label Kachkar as having a psychosis, not otherwise specified. One of Kachkar’s current doctors, meanwhile, said he may have bipolar disorder, Siebenmorgen said.

“(Until there is) a tentative working diagnosis … any situation that could potentially put Mr. Kachkar and the police in the community in contact, or should I say conflict, could have potentially serious and disastrous consequences.”

Siebenmorgen says if an altercation broke out during an outing, hospital staff would not be allowed to physically step in and would instead have to call police.

“Given the history, that’s a dangerous situation to set up,” Siebenmorgen said.

So far, Kachkar's lawyers say in the more than 130 occasions he has been allowed to leave his secure forensic unit, Kachkar has remained within the hospital grounds.

His lawyer, Peter Copeland, also said Kachkar’s psychotic episode leading to the death of Russell seemed to unravel over two weeks-time, and didn’t appear out of nowhere. He says hospital staff would therefore be able to assess Kachkar’s condition before allowing him into the community.

“It would not be difficult for hospital staff…to identify the signs of an onset of a psychotic episode,” Copeland said.

The Crown argues that the review board made a mistake, not only in its decision, but also in doing so without letting lawyers know what it was considering beforehand.

The ORB, which manages the cases of individuals who have been found not criminally responsible, determines where and under what conditions they can be detained. Balancing community safety and the least onerous conditions on the individual found not criminally responsible, the board can also order their release, with or without conditions.

The Appeal Court reserved its decision, meaning the judges will release their ruling whenever it is reached.

Kachkar’s next review is set for April 22.