Ontario Review Board
Re: Benjamin Landrus
ORB File No: 6353
Hearing held on: Friday, October 17, 2025
Place of Hearing: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. C. Flanagan
Members: Dr. K. Hand
Dr. J. Cheston
Ms. C. Fromstein
Ms. B. Naegele
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Benjamin Landrus
Counsel: Ms. L.M. Landry
Person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. A. Marshall
Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. N. MacDonald
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated November 26, 2025)
Introduction
On June 7, 2013, Benjamin Landrus was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) on a charge of aggravated assault, contrary to the Criminal Code.
Mr. Landrus is currently subject to a disposition dated October 30, 2024, detaining him on the Forensic Program of the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (“Ontario Shores” or “the hospital”) with conditions up to and including to live in the community in approved accommodation.
On October 17, 2025, a panel of the Board convened to review the Disposition in accordance with the requirements of s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Landrus and his counsel, Ms. L.M. Landry, attended the hearing. Mr. Landrus’s mother was also in attendance. A Hospital Report dated September 16, 2025, was filed as Exhibit 1 at the hearing.
The issue to be determined is whether Mr. Landrus continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public, as defined in section 672.5401 of the Criminal Code, 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.
Initial Position of the Parties
At the outset of the hearing, the parties were canvassed as to their recommendations to the Board.
Ms. Marshall, on behalf of the Hospital, recommended no change to the current Disposition.
Ms. MacDonald, on behalf of the Attorney General of Ontario, supported the recommendation of the Hospital.
Ms. Landry, on behalf of Mr. Landrus, conceded significant threat and supported the continuation of the current Disposition.
The parties maintained their positions in closing submissions.
Index Offence
- The circumstances of the index offences are set out on pages 2-3 of the Hospital Report as follows:
“The accused in this matter, Benjamin Landrus, was the son of the victim, Gary Landrus. The accused was diagnosed with psychosis NOS (not otherwise specified), was not under a doctor’s care, and was not on prescribed medication. The accused lived with his mother, Lloy Cooke at 8 Rodeo Pathway in the City of Toronto. The victim lived elsewhere but visited twice a week.
On Saturday November 3, 2012, at approximately 3:11pm, the victim attended 8 Rodeo Pathway to visit the accused and to take care of some other chores.
The victim entered the door, took off his boots, and was met by the accused who was standing in the doorway with a cricket bat in his hand. The accused began to tell the victim to “get out”, “you’re affecting my mind”, “your mind is affecting my mind”.
The victim calmly explained to the accused why he was there and began to leave. The accused grabbed the victim’s hat and threw it on the garage. The victim continued to walk towards the stairs leading to the street when he was struck on the back of his head with the cricket bat. The victim stumbled as he began to walk down the stairs. The accused grabbed the victim’s collar and pulled him back up onto a bench.
The victim took out his Blackberry cell phone to call 911, as the accused continued to say, “you’re affecting my mind – Lloy is affecting my mind”. The accused took the phone from the victim, the victim attempted to get it back but fell off the bench and onto the ground. As the victim lay on the ground, he yelled out for help as the accused began to smash the phone to pieces on the ground. The accused took the victim’s glasses, placed them on the stairs and smashed them with the cricket bat.
A neighbor answering the victim’s pleas for help arrived and managed to calm the accused just as police arrived. Police placed the accused under arrest and advised his rights to counsel.
The victim was transported by ambulance to St. Mike’s hospital and treated for his injuries that included several staples in his head, a broken shoulder, and bruising.”
Personal Background/Psychiatric History
Mr. Landrus’s personal background and psychiatric history are detailed in the Hospital Report, filed as an exhibit at the hearing, and need not be repeated here.
Briefly, Mr. Landrus is forty-two years of age. He attended private schools as a youth and excelled. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Dalhousie University. At that time, he took part in an international study program between Dalhousie University and Dakar University in Senegal, West Africa and attended classes at the University of Dakar in 2005. His mother reported that during this time, he became suspicious and reclusive.
According to collateral information, Mr. Landrus used marijuana on a regular basis and drank heavily in his twenties. He had several short-term jobs and his mother reported that her son had difficulties with co-workers during his employment. He had a previous relationship while attending university, which lasted three months.
Mr. Landrus’s mother reported her son having an early onset psychiatric illness during high school due to behaviour, which included not sleeping during the night and thinking about various issues. During his tenure at Dalhousie University, the symptoms of his mental illness became more evident. As a result, his mother flew out to Nova Scotia and took Mr. Landrus for a psychiatric evaluation He was diagnosed at that time with NOS psychosis. Mr. Landrus subsequently attended several outpatient clinics between December 2006 and October 2008. During this time, his diagnosis was updated to that of schizophrenia, paranoid type.
In the summer of 2010, Mr. Landrus returned to Toronto. One day, he went to Pearson International Airport attempting to buy an airline ticket to London or Paris in the hope of trying to find his father, who was in Europe at that time. Ms. Cook reported that an employee at the airport called the police because Mr. Landrus’ behaviours were odd in addition to the way he looked. He was picked up by the police who advised his mother to take him to the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH). At that time CAMH agreed to admitting Mr. Landrus voluntarily, but he refused. Mr. Landrus then travelled until his father brought him back to Toronto in 2012. At the time of the index offence, Mr. Landrus was living with his mother, with whom he had been living since August 2012.
Following his NCR finding in 2013, Mr. Landrus was transferred to Ontario Shores, under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Review Board. In 2017, he was discharged to the community but deteriorated and readmitted to hospital. Mr. Landrus refused any medication for the next three years. He was found incapable of consenting to treatment but appealed this finding to the Superior Court and then to the Ontario Court of Appeal. In February 2021, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Mr. Landrus’s appeal and treatment was able to begin. Following the initiation of treatment, Mr. Landrus became capable. After six months he then vacillated between consenting to medication, taking a reduced amount or refusing altogether.
On June 6, 2023, Mr. Landrus was transferred from a secure forensic unit to a general forensic unit. At the time of the hearing Mr. Landrus was capable of consenting to treatment and supported by ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program).
Current Diagnosis
- Mr. Landrus’s diagnosis is Schizophrenia.
Evidence at the Hearing
The Hospital’s evidence was presented through the oral testimony of Dr. L. Wong to supplement the Hospital Report, filed as an exhibit at the hearing.
Dr. Wong was Mr. Landrus’s psychiatrist while he was in hospital. During the reporting year, Mr. Landrus was not a management problem, did not engage in any suspected or confirmed substance use, and showed no physical aggression. Mr. Landrus also showed improvement by attending various sessions of different programs in hospital.
Dr. Wong advised that on September 15, 2025, Mr. Landrus was discharged into the community to Ballantyne House, a 24-hour supervised group home in Whitby with 3 other co-residents, and which provided meal and medication supervision. He is supervised in the community by FOS (Forensic Outpatient Services) and followed by Dr. Bhullar.
Dr. Wong reported that Mr. Landrus has made a successful transition into the community, is working well with the forensic outpatient team, and his placement at Ballantyne House is flexible on the length of stay. There have been no observable symptoms of his illness since moving into the community.
Mr. Landrus remains capable of consenting to treatment. Over the years this has presented significant challenges with respect to him maintaining therapeutic dosages of treatment. In the prior reporting year, Mr. Landrus requested that his dosage of long-acting Risperidone 12.5 mg be reduced to an even lower dosage oral formulation of Risperidone 0.25 mg. This led to a gradual decline in his mental status manifesting as increasing cognitive rigidity and disorganization and worsening somatic delusions.
During the past reporting year, partially in response to external motivation to maintaining his town passes to visit his father in hospital, Mr. Landrus consented to a gradual increase in his Risperidone medication. Since February 2025, the treatment team gradually increased the dosage, which ultimately resulted in improvement in his mental state and was pivotal to facilitating his discharge from hospital. The doctor advised that there may still be room to further optimize the current medication over the upcoming year.
When asked about the plan going forward, Dr. Wong advised that it is early days in the community. The plan was to ensure sufficient support was in place and have Mr. Landrus involved in structuring programming. When asked, the doctor agreed that another CBT-psychosis program might be beneficial to Mr. Landrus. Dr. Wong advised that Mr. Landrus’s parents are his main support and his mother is an Approved Person. Mr. Landrus regularly visits his father (victim of the index offence) who is in hospital.
As concluded in the Hospital Report, as supported by Dr. Wong, Mr. Landrus is a significant risk to the safety of the public. In this regard, Dr. Wong adopted the Primary Reoffence Scenario of Future Violence at page 53 of the Hospital Report, which stated in part:
“If living in the community, re-offence would occur when Mr. Landrus experienced an exacerbation of psychotic symptoms (e.g., persecutory and somatic delusions, disorganization, auditory hallucinations), in relation to suboptimal treatment. The risk would be significantly higher if Mr. Landrus were residing in an environment that does not offer a suitable level of support, structure, and supervision… Mr. Landrus would be unwilling to resume medication, nor would he agree to voluntary hospital readmission. If decompensation is prolonged, it is possible that symptoms including prominent persecutory delusions, auditory hallucinations, and disorganization could reemerge with the potential for physical violence (e.g., striking others including with the use of readily available objects as a weapon) in the interest of perceived self defence. The most likely victims would include family members, peers, group home staff, or neighbours.”
- Dr. Wong supported the continuation of the Detention Disposition. The doctor emphasized that the Hospital needs to approve his accommodation in order to provide the necessary support and supervision to manage his risk. In this regard, a Conditional Discharge would not suffice. As stated at page 53 of the Hospital Report:
“Overall, based on the results of this assessment, Mr. Landrus’s risk for future violence was determined to fall in the High range if awarded a Conditional Discharge. It was considered probable that worsening of psychotic symptoms secondary to stress and suboptimal treatment would occur, which could progress to threats of violence before he would meet criteria for hospitalization under the Mental Health Act.”
- No further evidence was presented at the hearing.
Conclusion and Disposition
Having considered all the evidence presented at the hearing, the Board finds that Mr. Landrus continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public as set out in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code. We make this finding based on the evidence of Dr. Wong and the evidence contained in the Hospital Report filed as an exhibit at the hearing, notwithstanding the joint position on significant threat of the parties.
Mr. Landrus’s index offence involved a serious assault with a weapon on his father. He suffers from a major mental illness, schizophrenia, with symptoms, notwithstanding pharmacological treatment, that remain sensitive to stress. He remains treatment capable with a history of either going off his antipsychotic medication or requesting its reduction causing an exacerbation of his symptoms which required readmission to manage the risk. Given his risk factors and reoffence scenario, as outlined in the Hospital Report and adopted by Dr. Wong, Mr. Landrus is a significant risk to the safety of the public.
This Board accepts the evidence of Dr. Wong, jointly supported by the parties, that the continuation of the existing Detention Disposition is required to manage Mr. Landrus’ risk to the community. Given the risk factors, the Hospital requires the ability to approve accommodation in the community, to ensure that Mr. Landrus is both properly supported and appropriately supervised to manage risk. In this regard, the Hospital would need to bring him back quickly should there be early signs of decompensation.
To his credit. Mr. Landrus had a good reporting year without management difficulties, substance use, or any untoward behaviour. He also enjoys the full support of his mother, who is an Approved Person, and his father, who he regularly visits in hospital.
Notably, Mr. Landrus engaged with his treatment team and consented to the necessary increase in the dosage of his antipsychotic Risperidone medication. In this regard, he appears to be both internally and externally motivated. This significantly improved his mental state and allowed his recent discharge to 24/7 supervised and supported accommodation in the community. This Board is mindful, however, that it is early days. In this regard, Mr. Landrus, who remains capable of consenting to treatment, has a history of requesting subtherapeutic levels of his antipsychotic medication, which in the past, has exacerbated his symptoms and resulted in readmission to hospital.
Consequently, we find that the most necessary and appropriate Disposition is the continuation of the existing Detention Disposition on the same terms and conditions. In reaching our decision, this Board has considered the safety of the public, Mr. Landrus’s mental condition, his reintegration into society, and his other needs.
DATED this 26th day of November 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Mr. C. Flanagan
Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board