Hamilton

Hamilton paramedics charged in death of Good Samaritan Al-Hasnawi back in court next month

The case of two Hamilton paramedics accused of failing to respond properly to the pleas of a dying teenager will be back in court Oct. 9.

Yosif Al-Hasnawi, 19, was shot and killed on Dec. 2, 2017

Yosif Al-Hasnawi, 19, was shot and killed in Hamilton on Dec. 2, 2017 outside of his mosque after he went to help an older man who was being accosted. (Al-Mostafa Islamic Centre)

The case of two Hamilton paramedics accused of failing to respond properly to the pleas of a dying teenager will be back in court Oct. 9.

Chris Marchant, 29, and Steve Snively, 53, are charged with failure to provide the necessaries of life in the death of 19-year-old Yosif Al-Hasnawi. Both men, according to their union, have been fired by the city.

Neither were in court Tuesday. Hamilton lawyer Jeffrey Manishen is representing both paramedics.

Al-Hasnawi, a Brock University student, was shot while trying to help an older man who was accosted outside his Hamilton mosque by two other men on Dec. 2, 2017.

Witnesses alleged that the responding paramedics accused Al-Hasnawi of exaggerating the extent of his injuries, and that they took too long to treat him and take him to hospital.

Police have described Al-Hasnawi as a brave young man who was trying to do the right thing. Ontario's provincial police watchdog announced in August that it is now investigating a Hamilton police officer in connection with the death of Al-Hasnawi.

Hamilton police charged one man with second-degree murder and another with accessory after the fact in relation to the shooting. Niagara regional police were then called in to investigate the way paramedics handled the case.

With files from the Canadian Press