© Facebook/CTV BCJerome Bonneric is pictured in this undated photo.
The psychiatric assessment request his lawyer had said he expected from Crown prosecutors Thursday morning did not come, and Judge William Kitchen did not order one.
"It was a terrible mental breakdown," said Bonneric's lawyer Robert Bellows, who was also not seeking a psychiatric assessment for his client. "It was absolutely out of character for him."
Bellows suggested earlier in the week that his client has serious mental health issues, adding that he was at St. Paul's Hospital shortly before the attack.
Bonneric, 33, has spoken by phone with his parents in France, Bellows said, and four friends attended his court appearance, accompanied by the French deputy consul.
"He has lots of friends who care for him and love him," Bellows said. "He's still extremely despondent and extremely sad about what's happened."
French Consul General Evelyne Decorps told The Vancouver Su๏ปฟn: "Whenever one of our citizens ... is under a procedure of justice - in the case of monsieur Bonneric, for instance - then it is our duty, if the person wants it, to assist him."
Bonneric is next scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 27 at 9:30 a.m., when a request for psychiatric assessment may still be made.
The French national has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault, four counts of assault with a weapon, three counts of common assault and one count of assaulting a police officer.
Meanwhile, police said a woman recovering from life-threatening injuries is expected to survive after Bonneric allegedly attacked her and six others, including a police officer, in an apartment building on Jan. 30.
Sgt. Randy Fincham said investigators are still trying to determine if the woman, who was not identified, knew the accused.
The victims range in age from their 20s to 60s and didn't appear to know one another, Fincham said.
Witnesses said a man rampaged through the halls and suites of 1263 Barclay St. wielding a hammer and knife, resulting in six initial hospitalizations and blood stains on the walls, doors and foyer of the building. It began around 6:45 p.m. on Jan. 30 as a "very vicious, very serious attack," Vancouver Police spokesman Randy Fincham said last week.
Bonneric worked as a sales manager at a gourmet bakery in Port Coquitlam from the spring of 2011 until roughly two months ago.
"He seemed like a very nice guy. We don't understand what happened," said Olivier Audibert, manager of Les Croissants d'Olivier at 1850 Kingsway Ave.
Another employee at the bakery said he found Bonneric pleasant to work with and a reliable coworker.
A Facebook profile under the name Jerome Bonneric says he is from Paris, France, with a background in real estate consulting
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