Ontario Review Board
Re: Dennis Nergui (a.k.a. Denny Nam)
ORB File No: 3179/7432
Hearing held on: Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Place of hearing: St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton West 5th Campus, 100 West 5th Street
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before: Alternate Chairperson: Ms. J. Mills Members: Dr. S. Swaminath Dr. J. Kis Mr. E. Siebenmorgen Mr. A. Mete
Parties Appearing: Accused: Dennis Nergui Counsel: Mr. A. Rai
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Mr. S. O’Brien
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. B. Adsett
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated September 10, 2025)
Introduction
On July 7, 2000, Dennis Nergui was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) on two charges of mischief and one charge each of uttering death threats, weapons dangerous and cause disturbance, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (the “Criminal Code”).
On October 4, 2018, Dennis Nergui was found NCR on charges of aggravated assault, carry a concealed weapon, assaulting a peace officer and assault with a weapon, contrary to the Criminal Code.
Mr. Nergui is currently subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board (the “Board”) dated August 16, 2024, as amended August 29, 2024, detaining him at the Forensic Psychiatry Program of St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton (the “Hospital”), with privileges up to and including the ability to live in the community in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
On August 5, 2025, a panel of the Board convened a hearing to review Mr. Nergui’s disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Nergui was present for his hearing and was represented by counsel throughout the proceedings.
The issues to be determined are whether Mr. Nergui represents 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.
At the commencement of the hearing counsel for the Hospital submitted that Mr. Nergui remains a significant threat to the safety of the public and there should be no change to his current disposition. Counsel for the Attorney General agreed with the Hospital’s submissions. Counsel for Mr. Nergui advised that Mr. Nergui would not be making submissions regarding significant threat and asked the Board to amend Mr. Nergui’s disposition to allow for the use of cannabis from a government-authorized retailer. At the conclusion of the hearing all parties maintained their respective positions.
For the reasons set out below, the Board finds that Mr. Nergui remains a significant threat to the safety of the public and there should be no change to his current disposition.
Evidence at the Hearing
- The Board received documentary evidence in the form of a Hospital Report dated July 29, 2025, marked as Exhibit 1. The Board also heard viva voce testimony from Dr. Naidoo, Mr. Nergui’s treating psychiatrist.
Index Offences
- The circumstances of the index offences are excerpted from last year’s Reasons for Disposition are as follows:
"NCR Date July 7, 2000
“May 8th, 2000
Mall security at the Quinte Mall in Belleville had asked the accused to leave the property. Upon his refusal, the police were called. He became argumentative and verbally abusive towards an attending officer and continued to refuse to leave the property. He was arrested for fail to leave premises upon demand. Once in handcuffs he became verbally abusive towards the officers, swearing, cursing, and using obscene language.
May 21st, 2000
The victim and his dog were walking in the direction of the accused who was standing between a couple of vehicles. As the victim got closer, the accused drew out a broken pair of metal scissors from his jacket and gripped them by the handle and pointed the blade at the victim's dog. He lurched at the dog and said he was going to stab it. The victim managed to pull his dog back at which time the accused stated, "get away from me or I'll take care of you and your dog". The accused was making stabbing motions with scissors towards the dog. The accused was eventually located by police and arrested. He was held for a bail hearing and ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment.
May 23rd, 2000
Two days later another victim was driving his 1995 Cadillac into Victoria Park in the City of Belleville. For no reason the accused kicked the vehicle causing two dents and began to scream and yell and appear to be out of control. The accused picked up some rocks and started throwing them towards the victim. The police were called and he was arrested but resisted being put into the cruiser and yelled to the police "bullet to the head, bullet to the head fucking cops ... you're out to get me ... bullet to the head bullet to the head".
Once police managed to get the accused into the cruiser, he kicked out the back window using both feet and damaged the door frame. He continued to kick the door and scream uncontrollably. The Police Service had had many contacts with the accused on previous occasions for begging for money, stopping vehicles or kicking or banging cars.”
NCR Date October 4, 2018
“Mr. NERGUI is believed to have been suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the alleged offences and was likely "not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder". He was at the time, and continues to be, under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Review Board at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health. His annual review hearing had been held on April 4, 2018, in relation to a July 7, 2000 finding that he was not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder in relation to charges of mischief x 2, utter threats, weapons dangerous, and cause disturbance. At that hearing, he had been ordered detained at Ontario Shores. He had been a part of the "Transitional Rehabilitative Housing Program" (TRHP) at the time.
On July 2nd, 2018, Mr. NERGUI stabbed Mr. Jonathan Tylzanowski once in the arm.
The parties were unknown to each other, and the attack was essentially unprovoked. Mr. Tylzanowski was walking to a grocery store when he came across Mr. NERGUI. Mr. NERGUI began barking and screaming at Mr. Tylzanowski, and mumbling about Mr. Tylzanowski not being Canadian, before stabbing Mr. Tylzanowski in his left tricep. Mr. Tylzanowski ran away from Mr. NERGUI and phoned police.
Multiple officers responded. Mr. NERGUI made threatening gestures towards the responding officers with the knife and pointed his fingers at them as if it were a gun.
Officers had to use a conducted energy weapon to subdue Mr. NERGUI and arrest him. Mr. NERGUI was taken to the hospital and was admitted to the Forensic Assessment Unit TAU) on July 3rd after a fitness and NCR assessment was made.”
The Hospital Report outlines Mr. Nergui’s history and background and need not be repeated here in detail. In brief, Mr. Nergui is 51 years old. Mr. Nergui was born in Canada to parents who were both immigrants from Korea. Growing up Mr. Nergui's first language was Korean. This led to difficulties for him in his early years at school as he was not fluent in English. Mr. Nergui attended secondary school, including one year at a military academy. He obtained a grade 11 education and completed part of grade 12. He also attended one semester at Seneca College. Mr. Nergui has a limited employment history. Mr. Nergui is single with no dependants.
Prior to the index offences, Mr. Nergui did not have a criminal record. However, he had a history of involvement with the Belleville Police Department primarily because of panhandling, stopping vehicles in the street, kicking, and banging on cars and acting paranoid.
Mr. Nergui has a significant history of substance abuse beginning when he was 15 years old. Mr. Nergui first began to show signs of mental illness at around the age of 22, when he began to believe that he was the balance between the world and the devil. Between 1997 and 1998, Mr. Nergui had four admissions to hospital due to the onset of psychosis. Substance use was noted in each admission.
Mr. Nergui is diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia, cannabis use disorder-severe- in early remission in a controlled environment, cocaine use disorder-severe-in sustained remission in a controlled environment and antisocial personality disorder traits. Mr. Nergui is capable to consent to psychiatric treatment.
Testimony of Dr. Naidoo
Dr. Naidoo testified that Mr. Nergui has had a positive year. He is polite and agreeable. Mr. Nergui has entered the community regularly and has exercised indirectly supervised passes into Hamilton. Although permitted to do so under his disposition, he has not yet used passes to Whitby, Etobicoke or Niagara Falls. Mr. Nergui continues to have a good relationship with his family members, and his father is his approved person. However, he has not met in person with his family members due, in large part, to his mother’s ill health. Mr. Nergui has been working on the hospital grounds and is noted to have been doing a good job. Furthermore, he has realistic future goals for employment. Currently, he is doing well, and his symptoms remain stable.
He has demonstrated no aggression and his clinical rapport with the treatment team is good, suggesting a degree of stability. Mr. Nergui is being considered for community living. Currently, he has an intake appointment in the coming week, and it is realistic to think he could be in the community in the coming months. Mr. Nergui continues to have a brittle illness and as his symptoms increase his risk increases.
In the year ahead, the treatment team would like to see Mr. Nergui continue to engage with them and improve his understanding of his symptoms and the detrimental effects of substance use on his major mental illness. The treatment team would also like to see continued abstinence from substance use, gainful employment (which he is trying hard to find) and a continued positive relationship with his family. The treatment team would like Mr. Nergui to engage in therapeutic programming including relapse prevention programming and cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) to improve his overall risk profile.
Mr. Nergui tested positive for cannabis in August 2024. There was no decompensation in his mental health noted and with education there has been no reoccurrence of substance use. Currently, he is tested twice each week. These are scheduled visits. While the cannabis Mr. Nergui could access on hospital grounds would contain an unverifiable amount of THC, and may be laced with other substances, cannabis from a government-authorized retailer would specify the THC content. Notwithstanding, it would be detrimental for Mr. Nergui to engage in substance use. Research demonstrates that for people with schizophrenia, cannabis has a significant negative impact on their mental health and can precipitate psychosis.
It is difficult to say what role cannabis placed in the index offences; however, Mr. Nergui was using cannabis for some time leading up to the first index offences and was using cannabis around the time of the second index offences. Most individuals with schizophrenia, even when taking medication, decompensate with cannabis use. Mr. Nergui has a history of being non-adherent in the face of using cannabis and the use of cannabis will overwhelm any benefit of medication.
Mr. Nergui came to the hospital essentially for a fresh start. He has largely done well. Notwithstanding, he has a brittle illness and a harm reduction approach by allowing him to use cannabis would not be recommended. This would not be a good risk management strategy for him.
Analysis
The Board accepts the evidence of Dr. Naidoo as supported by the Hospital Report and finds that Mr. Nergui continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. The Board also finds that Mr. Nergui’s risk can continue to be managed with a detention order on the same terms and conditions as his current disposition.
Mr. Nergui has had a positive year. He has been engaged with the treatment team. He has been employed and is looking forward to a future in the community. Mr. Nergui has been largely compliant with his disposition and has been willing to discuss his desire to use cannabis with the treatment team and has requested to be able to do so in his disposition. Mr. Nergui’s openness in this regard speaks well of his desire to abide by his disposition and his positive relationship with the treatment team.
However, concerns remain regarding Mr. Nergui’s risk. The Hospital Report indicates that he continues to exhibit variable and often limited insight into his illness and his need for treatment, his need to abstain from substances and his potential for violence. The Hospital Report also indicates that Mr. Nergui continues to struggle to appreciate the role of his psychotic symptoms in contributing to his past violence and he continues to struggle to appreciate the role that cannabis plays in impacting his mental health. Notably, at baseline he continues to exhibit symptoms of psychosis which demonstrates the brittleness of his illness. Mr. Nergui has a history of committing acts of violence towards strangers in the context of psychosis, non-adherence with treatment and substance use. The Hospital Report indicates that in those instances he has justified his violent actions as being due to his perceived persecution. Given the brittleness of Mr. Nergui’s illness, his history of non-adherence with medication and his ongoing desire to use cannabis, the Board finds that Mr. Nergui continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public.
Mr. Nergui is about to transition to community living. It is essential to a successful transition that Mr. Nergui is given every opportunity to succeed. Mr. Nergui is very vulnerable to substance use. Moreover, the Hospital Report details instances where substance use (frequently cannabis) has impacted his mental health. In 2017, Mr. Nergui was readmitted to the Hospital after using cannabis three or four times and required seclusion for a week due to the deterioration in his mental state and the aggressive behaviour that cannabis use precipitated. While the Board accepts the testimony of Dr. Naidoo that it is hard to parse out what factors contribute more to his mental deterioration (medication nonadherence or cannabis use), it is notable that around the time of the index offences in 2000 and 2018, Mr. Nergui is said to have been using cannabis.
Mr. Nergui’s insight into the impact of substances on his mental health remains underdeveloped. While it is to his credit that he has openly discussed his desire to use cannabis and has requested that he be permitted to do so, the Board accepts the evidence of Dr. Naidoo and finds that given his history of substance use and mental health deterioration, this would not be a good risk management strategy. The Board is also mindful that even at his baseline in the context of medication adherence, Mr. Nergui has symptoms of psychosis and this likely makes him more vulnerable to the negative impact of substance use. For these reasons, the Board finds that there shall be no change to Mr. Nergui’s current disposition.
Mr. Nergui is working well with the treatment team. He is described as polite and appropriate with co-patients and staff and has received increased therapeutic passes as the year has progressed. This speaks well of Mr. Nergui and his ability to move forward. The Board wishes him well in the year ahead.
Conclusion
In making a disposition, the Board must take into consideration s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, including the safety of the public which is the paramount consideration and the mental condition of the accused, the reintegration of the accused into society and the other needs of the accused.
For the above reasons, the Board finds that Mr. Nergui continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and there should be no change to his current disposition.
DATED this 10th day of September 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Ms. J. Mills Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board