Ontario Review Board

Re: Huseyin Demirer

ORB File No: 8610

Hearing held on: Monday, November 3, 2025

Place of hearing: Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care 401 Sunset Drive, St. Thomas

Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code

Before:

Alternate Chairperson: Mr. G. Beasley

Members: Dr. J. Ferencz Dr. G. Stones Mr. D. Sandor Ms. M. McKinnon

Parties Appearing:

Accused: Huseyin Demirer Counsel: Mr. S.F. Gehl

The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. J. Zamprogna

Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. D. Rows

REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated December 2, 2025)

Introduction

1. On August 15, 2024, the accused, Huseyin Demirer, was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder on charges of assault and aggravated assault, all contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada. By reason of the Disposition of the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) dated November 18, 2024, Mr. Demirer was ordered to be detained at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care, St. Joseph's Healthcare London, St. Thomas, Ontario. The Disposition provided privileges up to and including entering the community of Elgin County indirectly supervised.

2. On November 3, 2025, the ORB convened a hearing at the Southwest Centre for the purpose of the annual review of Mr. Demirer’s Disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Demirer was present and represented by counsel, Mr. Gehl. Ms. Zamprogna appeared as counsel for the hospital and Mr. Rows as counsel for the Attorney General of Ontario.

Index Offences

3. The circumstances of the index offences taken from last year's Reasons for Disposition are as follows:

“The accused Huseyin Demirer has been diagnosed with Schizophrenia. He has received treatment, including medication, for this mental illness. He reports that for the past five years; he has been hearing voices telling him to kill his mother. On December 14, 2023, at approximately 9:00 p.m., the accused, Huseyin DEMIRER, and his mother, Sirin DEMIRER were at home together, located at 58-A Short Street, in Waterloo. Huseyin does not ordinarily live with his mother but had been staying with her for several days leading up to this incident.

The accused and his mother began to argue about his marijuana use. Huseyin wanted to smoke marijuana. Sirin told him he could not, as it interfered with his medication that he takes to treat his Schizophrenia. Unbeknownst to her, he had already consumed half a gram of marijuana that day. After a brief struggle, Huseyin took Sirin’s cellphone to prevent her from calling anyone. He said he was taking it and going outside to smoke. He walked through the kitchen towards the door. Sirin went after him, saying he was not allowed to take her phone and not allowed to smoke. Huseyin said his mother was, “making me hear voice that tell me to kill you.” He said he had to kill her because she would not let him smoke. Huseyin went behind his mother’s back and used his right forearm and elbow to wrap around her throat, underneath her chin. Sirin yelled, “Nelson, Nelson, Nelson,” calling for her neighbor. Huseyin applied increasing pressure in Sirin’s throat, lifting her feet off the ground as he choked her.

Nelson LEUNG lives in the upstairs unit of 58 Short St Waterloo. He could hear the arguing in the unit below. It began as just Huseyin shouting, and Sirin responding in calming tones. When he heard Siren begin to yell his name, he ran down. He entered their unit and observed Huseyin choking Sirin in the kitchen. LEUNG could see Sirin was struggling to breathe and was limp in Huseyin’s arms. Sirin told police she lost consciousness just as LEUNG arrived.

LEUNG yelled at Huseyin to drop her. He clawed at his arms, but Huseyin would not drop Siren. LEUNG attacked Huseyin’s face, “squishing” his face and nose, but it had no effect on Huseyin’s grip. LEUNG finally had to attack Huseyin’s eyes, sticking his thumbs in both eyes. Once he did that, Huseyin dropped Sirin, who was unconscious at this point. She fell and hit her head on the ground. She had at this point urinated. Huseyin then began to attacked LEUNG, hitting him in the head and neck area. LEUNG managed to overpower Huseyin, wrestling him into a bedroom. Huseyin fought back for a time but when LEUNG wrestled him to the ground, he did not charge again. LEUNG noted to police that at no point did Huseyin ever speak to him, saying “[Huseyin] did not respond at all. He just had his eyes fixated down and he did not look me in the eyes until I pushed him away and he lunged at me.”

LEUNG returned to the kitchen, picked up Sirin and carried her out of the unit as she regained consciousness. Sirin told LEUNG they needed to get help, and that Huseyin had said he had to kill her. LEUNG took Sirin back to his unit where he called 911.

EMS arrived on the scene first, at 9:10 pm. They found Sirin alert in LEUNG’s apartment. Her neck was red, she complained of pain in her throat and her voice was hoarse, and she had a bruise on the back of her head. EMS noted she had been incontinent. Sirin told EMS her son had been trying to kill her.

One paramedic, accompanied by 3 firefighters, went downstairs to try and make contact with Huseyin to assess if he was all right. After callouts, he responded that he was there, and when asked if he had anything that could harm someone, he stated “I am not going to hurt anyone that would not be a good idea.” When EMS opened the door, they saw he was 8 feet away and had an axe in his hand. They closed the door and retreated to the upstairs apartment to await the police. Police arrived on scene around 9:40 pm. They spoke to Huseyin who still had an axe in his hand and was threatening to cut his neck with it. Cst KYEI asked Huseyin to put the axe down so they could deal with the situation without anyone else being hurt. Huseyin put down the axe and surrendered to police.

At 9:44 p.m., the accused was arrested by Cst. KYEI. He was read his Rights to Counsel and Caution, which he understood and declined speaking to a lawyer. He provided a statement to the police once he was at the station. The transcript of that interview is attached as an Exhibit to these facts. He explained to the police that he had been hearing voices telling him to hurt his mother for a long time. He said he had been controlling himself, but on that night, he felt he could not hold onto this anymore, and he either had to smoke marijuana, or he had to listen to the voices and hurt and kill his mom. Sirin was transported to hospital. She was interviewed by police at the hospital. While speaking to the police she stressed that her son needed to be in the hospital. She told police her son had said he would hurt her, not kill her.”

Current Diagnoses

4. The current diagnoses are taken from the Hospital Report as follows:

Schizophrenia

Cannabis Use Disorder.

Background and Personal History

5. Mr. Demirer’s background and personal history are extensively reviewed in the Hospital Report which was filed as an exhibit at the hearing. By way of brief summary, Mr. Demirer was born in Ankara, Turkey. He moved to Canada with his family at the age of four. He had one sibling, an older brother. Mr. Demirer stated that he had little difficulty learning the English language from junior kindergarten on and also became fluent in French from attending French immersion classes up until high school. His parents separated when he was 14 years old and he continued to live with his mother. After completing high school, he attended one semester of a science program at the University of Guelph but dropped out because “it wasn’t a good fit.” During high school he worked at Future Shop as a technician. After leaving university, he worked a number of different jobs including general labourer. He has not had any serious relationships.

Psychiatric History

6. Mr. Demirer has a history of treatment for mental health issues commencing in 2018. A full chronology of events and treatment is set out in the Hospital Report. Mr. Demirer has had a number of admissions to hospital for treatment and has previously been on a CTO. The Hospital Report details Mr. Demirer’s extensive use of cannabis and the resultant decompensation in his mental status. In April 2023, he was admitted to hospital as he had become delusional, was hearing voices and was threatening to kill his mother. In September 2023, he endorsed ongoing auditory hallucinations, some of which were about killing his mother. Again, in late September and early October 2023, Mr. Demirer was admitted to Grand River Hospital after disclosing command hallucinations to hurt his mother. Throughout November and December, he continued to receive long-acting injections of his antipsychotic medication but also continued using cannabis. In a virtual meeting with his community psychiatrist the day before the index offences, he was found to be “pleasant and cooperative and his affect noted as reactive and appropriate.”

Position of the Parties

7. Ms. Zamprogna stated that the recommendation of the hospital and the treatment team was that Mr. Demirer continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate disposition was a continuation of the current detention order with some amendments to the geographical radius of his privileges and the inclusion of permission to reside in the community. Mr. Rows agreed with the submissions of Ms. Zamprogna. Mr. Gehl stated that he also agreed with the hospital submissions save and except for the request that the accommodation be supervised. He stated that he supported the community living privilege to be in approved accommodation.

Evidence

8. The evidence on behalf of the hospital was presented by Dr. Mokhber. She is Mr. Demirer’s treating psychiatrist and the co-author of the Hospital Report which was filed as an exhibit. Dr. Mokhber stated that she has been Mr. Demirer’s psychiatrist since October 31, 2024. She submitted that the past reporting year has seen a significant improvement in Mr. Demirer’s mental status. Dr. Mokhber confirmed that her diagnosis is that Mr. Demirer suffers from the major mental illness of schizophrenia. He continues to have psychotic symptoms but is overall much better. He continues to hear voices and have command hallucinations but now is aware that those voices are part of his illness and are not real. Dr. Mokhber said that Mr. Demirer no longer listens to the voices and has not acted out on any delusions or hallucinations.

9. Dr. Mokhber stated that Mr. Demirer is now having visits with his mother, the victim of the index offence, (Mr. Demirer’s mother was in attendance at the hearing). The first visit between them took place under the direct supervision of staff. The visits have now moved forward to indirect supervision by staff.

10. Dr. Mokhber said that the most important step forward has been that Mr. Demirer has the ability to control the “voices.” The next move forward will be to test Mr. Demirer in the community. Dr. Mokhber said that on the morning of the hearing the decision had been made to move Mr. Demirer from the treatment unit to the rehabilitation unit once a bed becomes available for him.

11. Dr. Mokhber submitted that Mr. Demirer’s medication regimen has now been optimized. In addition, he completed the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) group program. He is currently engaged in psychotherapy with the assistance of a psychologist on staff at the Southwest Centre. Psychologist, Dr. Campbell, had submitted a report which was part of the Hospital Report materials. Dr. Campbell was in attendance at the hearing as well and has indicated that she will continue to work with Mr. Demirer once he transitions to the rehabilitation unit.

12. Dr. Mokhber said that Mr. Demirer will require supervision of his adherence to oral medication if he is to be transitioned to the community. She stated that the treatment team are recommending that any residence be in either Elgin or Middlesex Counties. She said that although the Hospital Report specifically requested supervised accommodation, she acknowledged that approved accommodation would likely be sufficient in order to manage Mr. Demirer safely in the community.

13. Dr. Mokhber adopted the risk offence scenario set out in the Hospital Report as part of her evidence. She stated that a Conditional Discharge would not be sufficient to protect the safety of the public in managing Mr. Demirer in the community as a result of his ongoing risk factors. When asked about further treatment, Dr. Mokhber said that the treatment team had tried to use clozapine but due to side effects it was discontinued. Mr. Demirer did participate in a number of sessions of ECT but withdrew his consent stating that he did not feel there was any benefit.

14. In response to questions from Mr. Rows, Dr. Mokhber stated that Mr. Demirer has insight into the command hallucinations he hears not being real.

15. In response to a question from Mr. Gehl, Dr. Mokhber stated that it is possible that the command hallucinations can be controlled but the likelihood of that is low. She stated that the best results are usually seen early on in treatment and this has not been the case with Mr. Demirer.

16. The members of the Board had questions for Dr. Mokhber. With respect to the level of supervision in the proposed residential accommodation, Dr. Mokhber stated that she would amend the Hospital Report to request “approved accommodation.” It would still be open to the Person in Charge to require that there be 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week supervision if that were necessary for Mr. Demirer to be discharged to the community. However, once he has been transferred to the rehabilitation unit it will take months before he is able to be transitioned to the community, and it is expected that his mental state will improve over that period. Dr. Mokhber stated that Mr. Demirer is capable of making treatment decisions with respect to his medication. She stated that Mr. Demirer’s mother is fully aware of Mr. Demirer’s risks and the importance of medication and treatment.

17. Neither Mr. Rows nor Mr. Gehl called evidence at the hearing.

Submissions

18. With the concession made by Dr. Mokhber that “approved accommodation” would be the recommendation of the hospital, all counsel supported the continuation of the detention order with the amendments as set out in the Hospital Report.

Analysis and Disposition

19. The Board was presented with a joint submission from all counsel both as to significant risk and to the necessary and appropriate disposition. The evidence of Dr. Mokhber was unchallenged at the hearing and fully supported by the contents of the Hospital Report. Since 2018, Mr. Demirer has had a significant history of mental health issues with violent and threatening behaviour. He also has a significant history of cannabis use over that period of time and leading up to days before the commission of the index offences. Notwithstanding the number of prior admissions to hospital the use of a CTO and ongoing community psychiatrist help, Mr. Demirer continued to suffer delusions and command hallucinations which included voices telling him to harm his mother. The commission of the index offences on December 14, 2023, was the result.

20. Dr. Mokhber testified that since taking over Mr. Demirer’s care in the late fall of 2024, she has seen a significant improvement in his mental health. Although he continues to suffer psychotic symptoms, including delusions and command hallucinations, he is now able to understand that these are a function of his illness and are not real. While in the hospital, Mr. Demirer’s antipsychotic medications have now been optimized. Sufficient progress has been made that he is now able to have in-person visits with his mother which are indirectly supervised by staff.

21. Over the reporting period, staff have noticed significant improvements in the areas of coping, self-control, and leisure activities. Mr. Demirer has successfully completed a number of programs to assist him with coping mechanisms for anger and psychosis.

22. The Board is unanimous in accepting the joint submission, supported by the evidence of Dr. Mokhber and the contents of the hospital report. These remain early days in Mr. Demirer’s treatment and reintegration into the community. Without the ongoing support, structure and supervision that the hospital and the inpatient treatment team currently provide him, Mr. Demirer would likely discontinue psychiatric treatment and resume substance use, increasing his command hallucinations to harm his mother. As set out above, Mr. Demirer’s psychiatric history and presentation have been linked to substance use. He has yet to participate in any sort of substance use related programming either in the hospital or in the community.

23. Dr. Mokhber testified that the recommendation has now been made to move Mr. Demirer from the treatment unit to a rehabilitation unit. Any further transition to residing in the community is likely many months away. Dr. Mokhber stated that “approved accommodation” will provide sufficient flexibility to tailor any proposed residence to Mr. Demirer’s mental health needs.

24. The Board has considered the provisions of s. 672.54 of which the safety of the public is the paramount concern. The Board unanimously finds that the proposed detention order disposition is both necessary and appropriate in all the circumstances.

DATED this 2^nd^ day of December 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.

Mr. G. Beasley Alternate Chairperson

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Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board