Re: Aaron Mayers
ORB File No: 7677
Hearing held on: Monday, February 23, 2026
Place of hearing: Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. L. Maunder
Members: Dr. P.L. Darby
Dr. L.O. Lightfoot
Ms. M. Chamberlain
Mr. J. Cyr
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Aaron Mayers
Counsel: Ms. M. Perez
Person in charge of hospital: Representative: Ms. T. Murdock
Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. S. Curry
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated April 7, 2026)
On January 17, 2020, Aaron Mayers was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder on a charge of assault causing bodily harm, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (the “Criminal Code”).
Mr. Mayers is subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board (the “Board”) dated March 14, 2025, which orders that he be detained at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care – High Secure Provincial Forensic Programs, Penetanguishene (“Waypoint”), with privileges up to hospital and grounds, beyond the secure perimeter, escorted by staff.
On Monday, February 23, 2026, the Ontario Review Board convened a hearing at Waypoint pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Mayers was represented by his counsel, Ms. M. Perez. Ms. Perez explained to the Board that her client did not wish to attend the hearing but that she had been able to meet with him and did have instructions. Mr. Mayer’s presence was excused per s. 672.5 (10) (a) of the Criminal Code.
Position of the Parties
- Ms. Murdock, on behalf of the hospital, recommended no change to Mr. Mayers current Disposition. This position was supported by Ms. Curry on behalf of the Attorney General as well as Ms. Perez on behalf of Mr. Mayers. The parties maintained their positions at the conclusion of the hearing.
Index Offences:
- On January 12, 2019, a male nurse was working at [the] Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in the City of Toronto. The victim was taking care of a patient in Room C of the F2 Wing (Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit) when Mr. Mayers entered the room and punching the victim three to four times on the left side of his face. The victim was able to grab Mr. Mayers and gain slight control over him. A nurse who was nearby activated a Code White and numerous nurses were able to attend into the area and assist with restraining him and assisting the victim.
Background:
Mr. Mayers is a 38-year-old man. He displayed some behavioural problems at a young age, including lying, truancy, stealing and substance abuse. By grade eight, he was dealing drugs on the grounds of his school and began using street drugs and alcohol himself. He has reported using cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, cannabis, narcotics, and magic mushrooms in the past. It has been recorded that he also abused Ritalin and oxycodone. He was involved in the Adolescence Substance Abuse Outreach Program at the Hospital for Sick Children between April 2001 and March 2003.
In the six years before the index offence, Mr. Mayers was often homeless, spending many periods of time in hospital or living on the streets or in shelters.
Mr. Mayers has a criminal record beginning in 2003 and spanning the years between 2003 and 2020. The charges over these years included assault, assault causing bodily harm and possession of weapon. A number of Youth Court charges were withdrawn and after 2009, charges of assault were either withdrawn or stayed.
On January 17, 2020, the same day he was found not criminally responsible with respect to the index offence, Mr. Mayers was convicted of utter threat, possession of weapon for dangerous purpose, and two charges of failure to comply with recognizance. He was given a suspended sentence and placed on probation for six months. Any remaining charges were withdrawn.
Mr. Mayers’ current psychiatric diagnoses are listed in the Hospital Report as the following:
Schizophrenia, continuous
Substance Use Disorder (Alcohol, Cannabis, Opioids, Amphetamines)
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Evidence at Hearing:
The evidence at the hearing consisted of the Hospital Report dated January 21, 2026, as well as the testimony of Dr. Mishra.
Mr. Mayers’ progress since his last annual review is summarized in the Hospital Report as follows:
“Mr. Mayers’ mental status continued to fluctuate, however he generally presented with euthymic affect. While he was typically appropriate and cooperative during interactions, there were instances where he presented with irritability, anger, and impulsive behaviours. His thought process remained notable for a flight of ideas, tangentiality, confabulation with loose associations, neologisms, and word salad. His thought content included grandiose delusions, magical thinking, and preoccupation. There were times where he presented as internally preoccupied and displayed significant thought blocking. While he endorsed what appeared to be auditory hallucinations of communication with people, it was difficult to say whether these were hallucinations or thought insertion/broadcast phenomena. For example, on April 7, 2025, when asked about the playing cards that were scattered on the floor he stated they were for "communication" and that he was communicating with “lots of people”. He then read out some numbers that were on the cards and stated that he was hearing those people communicating with him.”
Ms. Murdock called Dr. Mishra to give evidence on behalf of the hospital. The doctor stated that he had read and agreed with the contents of the Hospital Report including the recommendations contained therein.
Dr. Mishra informed the Board that Mr. Mayers continues to do well with ECT. He is receiving treatments twice each week and this has improved Mr. Mayers’ behaviour enough to keep him out of seclusion. Mr. Mayers appears to understand the need for ECT and will sometimes request a third treatment, but the Hospital finds that two treatments is optimal for him at this time. Dr. Mishra noted that even one missed treatment has a negative effect on Mr. Mayers.
The Hospital last changed Mr. Mayers’ medication at the beginning to the review period. He is only accepting oral medication at this time. He does not like Clozapine and is not willing to complete the required bloodwork, so this medication is not available to him currently. The Hospital is constantly assessing Mr. Mayers’ treatment to see if there are any other options available to him.
Mr. Mayers prefers to mostly stay in his room. He will go off the unit in the mornings to get a coffee but finds the afternoons more challenging and he can become dysregulated. Mr. Mayers has chosen to remain in a seclusion room in his unit even though he is not required to be in seclusion. The room he is in is located in a quieter area and he is more comfortable there. The Hospital staff check in on him every 15 minutes to ensure that he does not want to leave his room.
Mr. Mayers resides on the Beckwith unit at Waypoint which is the most structured program at the Hospital. Dr. Mishra explained that the risk posed by Mr. Mayers requires this high secure program. While he is manageable on the Beckwith program, he continued to be fairly unstable and thought disordered. He also has a hair trigger temper and can be set off and become violent very quickly.
Dr. Mishra stated that, in the coming year, the Hospital is hoping that Mr. Mayers will be willing to accept Clozapine as he has in the past with some success. If not, the Hospital will continue with the current treatment and hopefully manage Mr. Mayers’ aggression.
In response to questions from Ms. Perez, Dr. Mishra agreed that it may be harder for Mr. Mayers to move forward if he continues to remain in his seclusion room. He will come out of his room, but he does not have relationships with the other patients. He will engage with staff and will sometimes go out to the yard or engage in programming but then asks to go back to his room.
The Board asked Dr. Mishra if the Hospital will discuss the possibility of Clozapine with Mr. Mayers. He responded that the staff do attempt to have these discussions with him, but he shuts this down pretty quickly. The doctor stated that the Hospital will attempt to increase the long-acting injectable medication slowly in order to limit the side effects. Hopefully this will have some additional behavioural improvements.
The doctor was asked about possible negative side effects of long-term ECT. He testified that there is no clear literature about this. He stated that in Mr. Mayers’ case, any negative impacts of the ECT are outweighed by the lessening of his aggression. The treatment team has not noticed any issues with Mr. Mayers’ memory, nor has he reported any issues to the staff.
Finally, Dr. Mishra was asked if he had concerns about Mr. Mayers’ refusal to move to a room out of seclusion. He agreed that that this was an issue but stated that he did not want to worsen Mr. Mayers’ mental state as he was comfortable in his current room and was functioning relatively well there. The Hospital staff regularly ask him if he would like to move but he remains firm in his desire to stay in his current room.
Findings of the Board:
- The Board unanimously finds that Mr. Mayers continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public. In arriving at this determination, the Board considered the joint position of the parties and accepted the uncontroverted evidence of Dr. Mishra. The Board also relies on the Hospital Report, which notes the following:
“ Mr. Mayers continues to meet the threshold for significant threat to the safety of the public. Over the course of this review period, Mr. Mayers has continued to engage in assaultive behaviour, has required seclusion, and has remained highly psychotic, and has demonstrated recurrent antisociality and substance-seeking behaviours. Mr. Mayers’ psychosis, antisociality, and substance use all inform his violence risk. At present the ECT treatment is essential to maintain the limited improvement in his mental state. It is my opinion that Mr. Mayers would not be well-served by transfer to a less secure facility. His experience would be significantly more restrictive and the burden of risk to others, too great.”
Dr. Mishra testified that Mr. Mayers continues to require the structure and program provided to him at the high secure forensic unit in Waypoint. The Board agrees with the Hospital that the current treatment is responsible for a lessening in Mr. Mayers aggression but that he still remains a significant threat to the safety of the public.
Further, the Board, accepts that absent an ORB Disposition, Mr. Mayers would likely become non-compliant with his psychotropic medications. He is likely to use substances which would cause a further worsening of his psychosis and increased aggression. Mr. Mayers would likely return to living on the streets and engage in behaviours similar to the index offence. We are satisfied that absent an ORB Disposition, it is likely that Mr. Mayers will cause serious physical or psychological harm to members of the public and such conduct will likely be criminal in nature.
Therefore, the Board unanimously determines that the necessary and appropriate Disposition required to manage the threat Mr. Mayers poses to the safety of the public while still meeting his needs, is a continuation of the existing Detention Disposition.
In making this Disposition, the Board carefully considered the positions and submissions of the parties and the evidence of Dr. Mishra and is satisfied that this determination is both necessary and appropriate. The Board reviewed the provisions of s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code and carefully considered the need to protect the public from dangerous persons, Mr. Mayers’ mental condition, his reintegration into society as well as his other needs.
DATED this 7th day of April 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. M. Chamberlain
Legal Member
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Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board