Ontario Review Board
Re: Tristan Wesley
ORB File No: 8103
Hearing held on: Friday, October 10, 2025
Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health 1001 Queen Street West, Toronto
Pursuant to: Sections 672.81(1) and 672.81(2.1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. L. Banks
Members: Dr. L.E. Cappe Dr. C. Rose Hon. C. Nelson Mr. J. Cyr
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Tristan Wesley Counsel: Ms. M. Addie
The Person in Charge of Hospital: Counsel: Mr. D. Blumenkrans
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. S. Cressman
REASONS FOR DECISION AND DISPOSITION
(Dated November 6, 2025)
Introduction
On April 13, 2022, Tristan Wesley was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) on charges of assault and assault with a weapon, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (the “Criminal Code”).
Mr. Wesley is currently subject to a Disposition of the Ontario Review Board (the “Board”), dated October 17, 2024, detaining him within the Forensic Services of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (“CAMH”), with privileges up to and including living in the community of the Greater Toronto Area, in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
On October 10, 2025, a panel of the Board convened to review Mr. Wesley’s Disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Wesley was present for his hearing and was represented by counsel, Ms. Maureen Addie. The hospital was represented by Mr. D. Blumenkrans; Ms. Cressman appeared for the Attorney General.
On October 7, 2025, the Board received a letter of Sham Hishmeh, Manager, Office of the Person in Charge, advising of a restriction of liberty commencing July 30, 2025. Therefore, the Board panel also convened to review the restriction of Mr. Wesley’s liberty pursuant to s. 672.81(2.1) of the Criminal Code.
The issues to be determined are whether Mr. Wesley continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and, if so, the necessary and appropriate Disposition to manage that risk, having regard to the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code. The further issue at this hearing is whether the hospital’s decision to increase the restrictions on Mr. Wesley’s liberty was warranted, necessary and appropriate at the date of onset, July 30, 2025, and whether it continues to be so as of the date of this hearing.
For the reasons set out below and based on the evidence and opinions before us, the Board concludes that Mr. Wesley continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. The Board finds that a Detention Disposition is the necessary and appropriate Order on the terms set out in our formal Disposition.
The Board further finds that the significant restriction of Mr. Wesley’s liberty was necessary and appropriate, and the least onerous and least restrictive measure from the time it was imposed through to the date of this hearing.
Initial Position of the Parties
- At the commencement of the hearing, the parties were asked for their initial positions. The hospital, counsel for the Attorney General and Mr. Wesley’s lawyer, recommended no change to the Detention Order. In terms of the restriction of liberty, all parties agreed that the restriction was necessary and appropriate and continues to be so. The matter, therefore, proceeded by way of a joint submission.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses
- Schizophrenia
Substance Use Disorder, Cannabis
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Index Offences
- The circumstances of the index offences are excerpted from the Hospital Report (Exhibit 1) and are as follows:
“1. Assault C.C. 266”
“Synopsis for plea, Toronto police service, by officer Gherardt, dated September 23, 2021.
On the morning of Thursday, September 23, 2021, the accused was in the area of Wellesley St. At approximately 11:35a.m., the accused walked into a hair salon on Wellesley Street with complaints of being pepper sprayed. The accused was provided with water by the salon staff. Within a few minutes, however, the accused promptly left and began to walk along the north side of Wellesley St.
As the accused entered the Church and Wellesley Street intersection he encountered the victim, who was walking by in the opposite direction. The accused and the victim were unknown to one another. Totally unprovoked, the accused grabbed the victim by her hair as she walked past. The accused then dragged the victim backwards for a short distance before letting go as the victim began to scream out for help. The accused then continued to walk in an easterly direction. The victim immediately called 911 to report the assault.
In the meantime, the accused made his way to the area of Wellesley and Jarvis Street, where he began to randomly make threats to pedestrians in the area. One of those pedestrians called 911 to report the accused in medical distress. Police arrived on scene where the accused was being tended to by paramedics.
The officers began to investigate the accused regarding the assault allegations, during which the accused seized an opportunity to flee on foot and engage the officers in a foot pursuit. The accused was then chased and eventually caught by police. He was placed under arrest and transported to the police station pending a show cause hearing.
- Assault with a Weapon C.C. 267(a)
On Saturday, June 19, 2021 at approximately 2:00 p.m. the accused was walking in the area of Wellesley St and Church St in the city of Toronto. He was carrying an approximately two-foot-long branch from a tree. He was swinging the stick around trying to hit vehicles as he walked. The victim who was walking Northbound on Church Street, observed the male walking. As the accused got close to the victim, without warning he swung the stick at the victim and hit her in the left shoulder area. The victim managed to walk away from the assault and contacted the police. The accused was observed to start causing problems on Church Street, by taking their food and eating it, picking up glassware and throwing it, and by throwing things on the ground. There were several callers who reported the behaviour to police. Police arrived on location and found the suspect in the area and spoke to him. The victim pointed out the male to police as being the person who assaulted her, and the male was placed under arrest, transported to 51 Division where he was charged accordingly.”
Background Information
Mr. Wesley is a 30-year-old single man born in Montreal and raised in Burlington, Ontario.
Mr. Wesley dropped out of school in grade 11. He skipped school a lot due to a lack of motivation, and was suspended several times for fighting, skipping school, and smoking cannabis. He was placed on an Individualized Education Plan in high school. Mr. Wesley suspected he was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Mr. Wesley incurred criminal charges at the age of 15 or 16 years and was placed in Portage (Drug Rehabilitation Centre). When he completed the Portage program and moved back into the family home, he relapsed to cannabis use and resumed his previous destructive behavioural pattern. Around this time, he was kicked out of the family home. He had difficulty maintaining stable housing and was evicted from most of the apartments he rented.
Mr. Wesley had difficulty maintaining steady work. He worked in sales for three years after dropping out of high school. He further worked for a moving company but left that job due to his involvement in substance use, mainly cocaine and alcohol. He worked as a drug dealer selling cocaine. He also worked as an escort. As a result of his high-risk sexual behaviour, which he engaged in at various times to support himself, he contracted HIV.
Mr. Wesley has a long history of substance use, beginning with cannabis at the age of 13. Alcohol consumption followed, and by the age of 16, he was using cocaine regularly. In his twenties, Mr. Wesley began using crystal methamphetamine. As noted in the Hospital Report (Exhibit 1), Mr. Wesley believes that his substance use (particularly crystal methamphetamine) was the trigger for the onset of his illness and he identified “life stress”, such as being homeless, as the perpetuating factor for his illness. He stated that his psychosis was most severe when he used cannabis and crystal methamphetamine together. Mr. Wesley’s mental status improves with sustained treatment and abstinence.
Mr. Wesley has numerous charges prior to his index offences, including thirteen charges as a youth. As an adult, prior to the index offences, he incurred charges of assault, driving while ability impaired, fail or refuse to provide sample, failure to comply with probation order (x4), failed to attend court, and unlawfully in dwelling house.
Course Since Last Disposition
- Mr. Wesley had an annual ORB hearing on October 1, 2024, and a Restriction of Liberty hearing on December 10, 2024. His Detention Order was kept in place and his restriction of liberty was found to be necessary and appropriate.
Evidence at the Hearing
The evidence at the hearing was given by Dr. Owen O’Sullivan, who co-authored the Hospital Report dated September 21, 2025. The Hospital Report, which also contained information about Mr. Wesley’s latest restriction of liberty, was made Exhibit 1 at the hearing.
Mr. Wesley’s review period was complicated by substance use. Until September, 2024, he remained in Transitional Rehabilitation Housing Program 2 (TRHP2) housing on a 24-hour supervised high support program on CAMH grounds. However, because of urine tampering, positive drug tests (cannabis and crystal methamphetamine) and family concerns, he was readmitted to hospital on September 23, 2024. His intrinsic motivation for abstinence was very low upon readmission. What motivation he had was primarily driven by extrinsic factors such as housing and avoiding incarceration. He was discharged to THRP2 housing again on October 4, 2024.
On November 1, 2024, Mr. Wesley was once again readmitted to hospital due to a number of failed returns to housing, repeated substance abuse, duplicity towards care providers and a deterioration in his mental state. He was displaying more overt psychotic symptoms in late 2024 and into early 2025. Otherwise, he presented as calm and pleasant and there were no altercations with patients or staff.
Mr. Wesley’s insight has been assessed as partial. He was unsure about his diagnosis but allowed that medication calmed him. He agrees “big time” with his diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. He said he was not worried about meth and that once he turns 30, he will no longer engage in the gay and chemsex scenes where meth use was preeminent.
As there were many instances of substance use while Mr. Wesley was in a general unit, together with tampering, he was transferred to the secure tower on July 30, 2025, where he remains. He has 1:1 counselling through Forensic Consultation and Treatment Team (FORCAT) and is connected to a vocational team.
By mid-September 2025, he was allowed escorted passes on the hospital’s grounds. The next step is accompanied passes to allow him to attend the therapeutic neighbourhood. The major difficulty is that with the gains he makes come several relapses. The hope is that he will respond to programming.
It is to be noted that according to psychological testing completed in 2024, he has demonstrated a number of antisocial features (egocentrism, disregard for others, little sense of responsibility and manipulative behaviour). He remains in the high range for the presence of psychopathic traits.
Over the course of 2025, Mr. Wesley made therapeutic gains on Unit 1-3 in terms of pass progression and engagement with interventions to address his substance issues. However, his progress proved rather halting owing to repeated drug use and security subversion. This jeopardized his own stability and that of other patients, in addition to impacting negatively on the therapeutic milieu. On this basis, Mr. Wesley was ultimately transferred from the general tower (Unit 1-3) to the secure tower (Unit 3-5) on July 30, 2025, where he has remained. The team’s belief is that Mr. Wesley’s transfer to a secure forensic unit was necessary and appropriate at the time and remains so to date. At the time of the hearing, Mr. Wesley was awaiting transfer from the Forensic Assessment and Treatment Unit (FATU) to a secure forensic unit.
In answer to a question from Ms. Addie, Dr. O'Sullivan stated that Mr. Wesley is beginning to show some insight into his illness and also an understanding of his vulnerabilities.
In answer to a Board member’s question, Dr. O'Sullivan testified that Mr. Wesley has shown some regret for his actions.
There was no further evidence.
Submissions
- The parties maintained their initial positions on this joint submission. They agreed and supported a Disposition of a Detention Order on the same terms as last year (Forensic Service, with privileges up to and including living in the community in the Greater Toronto Area in approved accommodation). They also agreed that the restriction of Mr. Wesley’s liberties on July 30, 2025, and continuing to date, was necessary and appropriate.
Analysis and Conclusion
On the basis of the evidence heard, the Board finds that Mr. Wesley continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. The Board agrees that his long-standing addictions and his unwillingness and/or inability to curtail his desire for substances places him at high risk of decompensation. His insight into his mental health, while showing some improvement, is still quite limited. He has schizophrenia which may be kept in check with sustained treatment and abstinence. He placed his community housing at risk because of his substance use. The hospital requires the ability to approve his eventual movement to a general forensic unit and then into community housing.
Given the seriousness of Mr. Wesley’s relapses to drug use, prompt intervention, including re-hospitalization, is of utmost importance to prevent reoffending in a similar way. A Detention Order with privileges up to and including community living in approved accommodation is the necessary and appropriate, least onerous and least restrictive option to maintain the safety of the public while also addressing Mr. Wesley’s needs. Mr. Wesley has shown that he has the ability to have some insight into his mental health. The Board hopes that he continues to take advantage of programming so that it can assist him in having a more fulsome understanding of what he needs to do in order to deal with his mental health. The Board wishes him well.
Considering all the circumstances, the Board finds that the restriction of liberty was necessary and appropriate. Further, it was the least onerous, and least restrictive measure at the time it was imposed and as of the date of this hearing.
DATED this 6^th^ day of November, 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Hon. C. Nelson Legal Member
__________________ Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board