Ontario Review Board
Re: Gary Lamothe
ORB File No: 7047
Hearing held on: Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Place of Hearing: Brockville Mental Health Centre
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. G. Beasley
Members: Dr. G. Eayrs Dr. Y. Alatishe Mr. M.D. Segal Ms. R. MacIntyre
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Gary Lamothe Counsel: Mr. S. Edgley
Person in charge of hospital: Representative: Dr. A. Adiele
Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. C. Breault
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated August 7, 2025)
Introduction
On November 8, 2016, Gary Lamothe was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder on charges of assault, assaulting a peace officer, resisting, or obstructing the public or peace officer, and mischief – not exceeding $5,000, all contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.
Mr. Lamothe is currently subject to an Ontario Review Board (ORB) disposition of July 3rd, 2024, which discharges him subject to conditions.
On June 17, 2025, the Ontario Review Board convened at the Brockville Mental Health Centre (BMHC) to conduct Mr. Lamothe’s annual review and to make a disposition further to Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Lamothe was present at his hearing and was represented by his counsel, Mr. Steve Edgley. Counsel for the Attorney-General of Ontario was Ms. Breault and Dr. Adiele represented the Hospital.
The issues for this hearing are whether Mr. Lamothe meets the threshold for significant threat to the safety of the public and, if so, to determine the Disposition that is necessary and appropriate in all the circumstances.
At the outset of the hearing, the parties jointly agreed that Mr. Lamothe continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and there be no change in his conditional discharge disposition for the coming reporting year.
Index Offences
- Last year’s Reasons for Disposition outline the index offences as follows:
“According to the Crown Synopsis, on August 29, 2016, at around 1600 hours, Brockville Police responded to a domestic disturbance at 51 Perth Street. Police spoke with the victim, Sue Lamothe. It was felt that she has health issues, so it was difficult to get information from her. She explained that an assault had occurred when Mr. Lamothe poked her in face. Mr. Lamothe went outside where police were speaking with Sue. Police tried to place him under investigative detention. He said, "what fucking assault" and attempted to strike the police. Police gained physical control of Mr. Lamothe who then pushed forward, tackling the policeman into the residence. Mr. Lamothe was punching and kicking at the police. He was eventually brought under control and handcuffed and transported in the police vehicle.
Sue Lamothe confirmed that Mr. Lamothe had poked her in the left cheek a few times with his dirty long fingernail. He also broke items in the house by pouring beer or water on the television and breaking a picture frame. A police officer had a 30-40 cm scratch on his left arm from Mr. Lamothe’s dirty long fingernails. Of note, Mr. Lamothe brought a hatchet from the basement upstairs and set it on the counter. The reason for this was not clear. Police wrote that Mr. Lamothe was "heavily under the influence of alcohol and had also been possibly using marijuana.”
Current Diagnosis
- Current diagnosis is taken from the hospital report as follows:
Schizoaffective Disorder, depressive type
Alcohol Use Disorder
Cannabis Use Disorder
Partner Relational Problem V61.10
Background & Personal History
Mr. Lamothe’s background and history are set out in the Hospital Report, which is filed as an Exhibit. The details will not be repeated in these reasons. By way of summary, Mr. Lamothe’s home life was complicated by physical, verbal, and emotional abuse by his father and bullying by other students in public school. He did not do well in school, suffering from difficulties with concentration, spelling and reading. His father would often tell him that he was stupid. His highest level of education was Grade 10. Mr. Lamothe had a few friends during his school years, and his best friend was his brother. After leaving high school, Mr. Lamothe’s most significant period of employment lasted 18 years before the business shut down. Mr. Lamothe left his next employment because of his inability to communicate and socialize with his co-workers. He was last employed 15 years ago. Mr. Lamothe has stated that he used to enjoy working, he liked to have a purpose and liked to keep busy during the day. He stated that he was always good at doing his job and excelled at working with his hands.
Mr. Lamothe does not have a criminal record. He said that he was arrested some 30 years before for driving under the influence and public intoxication.
In a discharge summary from the Brockville General Hospital, in October of 2012, it is noted that he was taken to hospital by police following his threats to kill his neighbours, believing that his neighbours were using colours to persecute him. Yellow and red colours were particularly distressing. On admission he was paranoid, agitated and confused. He was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia and Polysubstance Abuse.
In March of 2022, Mr. Lamothe was discharged from the Hospital to live in a 24-hour supervised FITT House, on the hospital grounds, and then into the Murray Street residence. He had been compliant with medications and was abstinent of substances and was free of aggression or threatening behaviour. The one lingering evidence of paranoid thinking was his concern that certain colours worn by others would invoke paranoid thoughts.
Evidence
The evidence on behalf of the Hospital was presented by Dr. Adiele. He is Mr. Lamothe’s attending psychiatrist and the co-author of the Hospital Report, which was filed as an Exhibit. Dr. Adiele stated that Mr. Lamothe has shown considerable improvement since last year. He told the treatment team that he had been considering consuming alcohol but had not responded to those urges. All of his UDS screens have been negative for the past reporting year. The most significant change was that Mr. Lamothe was able to move into his own apartment on March 17th, 2025. This comes after approximately three years of residing at the Murray Street supervised accommodation. Dr. Adiele stated that Mr. Lamothe has expressed satisfaction with living independently and that this should result in less paranoia. Dr. Adiele said that Mr. Lamothe has stated that he does not have many friends in the Brockville area and wants to travel to Ottawa to visit his grandson. Mr. Lamothe is presently stable and has asked the treatment team to remain on a conditional discharge at this time.
In response to questions from Ms. Breault, Dr. Adiele agreed that things had been a little “rocky” at Murray Street until Mr. Lamothe moved into independent living. Mr. Lamothe has little social interaction with his peers. With respect to family, Dr. Adiele said that Mr. Lamothe has the son and grandson in Ottawa that he would like to visit. He also has a sister in St. Catharine’s who has visited him in the past.
Dr. Adiele described how Mr. Lamothe suffers from a very particular paranoia about the colour yellow. He believes that people who wear the colour yellow or sometimes red are going to attack him. Dr. Adiele said it is a complicated story but has its roots in the death of Mr. Lamothe’s daughter at a young age, and the yellow flowers that were present at her funeral. Dr. Adiele said that although there is sometimes some wavering in this belief, it is basically present 100 percent of the time. Notwithstanding the paranoia, Mr. Lamothe has never acted on his delusions or harassed anybody who was wearing yellow. Dr. Adiele stated he has known Mr. Lamothe for the past eight years. Mr. Lamothe has been in the community for some time starting at the FITT House moving on to Murray Street and now finally into independent living. His paranoia was actually worse when he was on the treatment unit. There is less intensity to his delusions when he is in the community. Finally, Dr. Adiele adopted the risk analysis set out in the hospital report as the basis for his opinion that Mr. Lamothe continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public.
In response to questions from Mr. Edgley, Dr. Adiele agreed that Mr. Lamothe’s mental status was on an “upward trend” in that he was managing better on his own as a result of having less contact with others in the community. There is no issue with his compliance with his antipsychotic medication. Dr. Adiele agreed that Mr. Lamothe needs the support of the treatment team to contain his risk but if he were to receive an Absolute Discharge, the team would still support him. He is seen by the outpatient team and staff once per week and by the doctor once every four weeks. Dr. Adiele stated that Mr. Lamothe’s risk would increase if he was totally on his own without any check-in with supports in the community.
Dr. Adiele was asked by a member of the panel why Mr. Lamothe wishes to remain on a conditional discharge at this time. Dr. Adiele stated that Mr. Lamothe enjoys the support of the treatment team and their visits with him. Additionally, he is sometimes able to obtain rides to Ottawa from members of the treatment team to visit his son and grandson. When asked what the next step would be to move towards an Absolute Discharge, Dr. Adiele stated simply more time residing successfully in the community in independent living. Dr. Adiele stated that although there was some suggestion that Mr. Lamothe might have consumed alcohol, he was adamant in stating that he had not and there were no positive urine drug screens. Dr. Adiele submitted that although Mr. Lamothe has never confronted anyone in the community, the risk remains of his attacking another person.
In response to another question from the panel, Dr. Adiele stated that the paranoia with respect to the colour yellow is not an issue when Mr. Lamothe is visiting with his family. In addition, his family are aware of the risks presented by the possible consumption of alcohol. Long-term, Dr. Adiele said that Mr. Lamothe enjoys living in Brockville and there is no stated intention to leave. With respect to medication, Mr. Lamothe is responsible for taking his oral medications himself and he receives his long-acting injection in the community. He does need to find a community doctor to support him in the future. When asked what Mr. Lamothe did to occupy himself, Dr. Adiele stated that he walks or uses his scooter to travel around Brockville and spends time in his room. There are no groups offered for outpatients at the hospital. There has been some possibility that Mr. Lamothe may volunteer at his local church.
Neither Mr. Edgley nor Ms. Breault called evidence at the hearing.
Submissions of the Parties
- At the conclusion of the evidence, all parties reiterated the joint submission made at the outset of the hearing that the necessary and appropriate disposition was a continuation of the current Conditional Discharge without amendment.
Analysis and Disposition
The panel is unanimous in accepting the joint submission of the parties. The panel accepts the evidence of Dr. Adiele that as set out in the Hospital Report, this has been a “transformative year” for Mr. Lamothe. He has made significant progress by transitioning successfully from the Murray Street residence to independent living in the community. As stated by Dr. Adiele, “this achievement represents the culmination of his recovery goal of independent community housing and demonstrates remarkable progress in his journey towards full community integration.”
The panel accepts the opinion of Dr. Adiele that Mr. Lamothe continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. He continues to have a persistent paranoid delusion centered on the colour yellow. He maintains fixed beliefs that people intentionally wear yellow items to distress him and that this extends beyond individual interactions to encompass a broader belief that the whole town knows about his condition and the community members deliberately target him. Notwithstanding the best efforts of the treatment team, these paranoid delusions and beliefs remain unchanged and cause Mr. Lamothe significant distress. Mr. Lamothe has also had a significant history of substance abuse, particularly alcohol. Mr. Lamothe reported urges to drink over the past reporting year, but his urine drug samples remain consistently negative.
The hospital report sets out a risk scenario on page 94 as follows:
“High-risk scenarios would likely involve a convergence of multiple stressors: medication non-compliance, alcohol use resumption, major life stressors (such as his grandson's health concerns or family relationship deterioration), and social isolation. The combination of paranoid exacerbation with substance use represents the most concerning potential scenario, particularly given the role these factors played in his index offense.”
- The panel is unanimous in accepting this assessment of the threat which Mr. Lamothe represents to the safety of the community. The proposed disposition offers crucial risk management with weekly monitoring to provide early detection of symptom exacerbation with timely intervention.
DATED this 7th day of August, 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Mr. G. Beasley
Alternate Chairperson
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Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board