Ontario Review Board
Re: Ahmed Mohamed Ismail
ORB File No: 8921
Hearing held on: Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Place of Hearing: Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
Pursuant to: Section 672.47(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. M. Labrosse
Members: Dr. R. Kunjukrishnan
Dr. G. Nexhipi
Ms. R. Louis
Ms. B. Naegele
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Ahmed Mohamed Ismail
Counsel: Mr. A. Sheivari
Person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Dr. A. Alabi
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. M. Dufort
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated May 19, 2026)
Please see underlined changes to original reasons made May 26, 2026
Introduction
On November 27, 2025, the accused, Ahmed Mohamed Ismail, was found not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder (“NCR”) on a charge of second-degree murder contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada. At the time of the finding of not criminally responsible the Honourable Court did not make a disposition and referred the matter to the Ontario Review Board.
On April 1, 2026, a panel of the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) convened a hearing at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, hereinafter referred to as “the Royal” or “the hospital”, to conduct Mr. Ismail’s initial hearing pursuant to s. 672.47(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Ismail attended his hearing and was represented by his counsel, Mr. A Sheivari.
The following documents were entered as Exhibits:
Criminal Record
Warrant of Committal dated November 27, 2025
Charge Sheet
NCR Report dated January 15, 2024
Transcript dated November 27, 2025
Clerk Package
SCJ Final Ruling on NCR Application dated March 24, 2026
Victim Impact Statement of DB dated January 31, 2026
Victim Impact Statement of KB dated February 2, 2026
Victim Statement of EB dated January 31, 2026
Victim Impact Statement of JB dated March 18, 2026
Hospital report dated March 19, 2026
The issues for this hearing are whether Mr. Ismail poses a significant risk to the safety of the public and, if so, to determine the disposition that is necessary and appropriate having regard to the factors set out at s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
At the outset of the hearing, the parties provided their preliminary without prejudice position for the hearing. The hospital recommends that Mr. Ismail represents a significant threat to the safety of the public and that a detention order, with community living in approved accommodation, is the necessary and appropriate disposition. Counsel for the Attorney General, Ms. Dufort, indicated her likely agreement with the hospital recommendation, subject to questions regarding the proposed community privileges. Counsel for Mr. Ismail, Mr. Sheivari, indicated that he would likely agree with the hospital recommendation.
In closing submissions, Ms. Dufort submitted that community living and indirectly supervised community passes ought not to be included in the disposition, while the hospital and Mr. Sheivari maintained their preliminary positions.
For the reasons set out below, the Board finds that Mr. Ismail represents a significant threat to the safety of the public and that a detention order with privileges up to and including indirectly supervised community passes, is the necessary and appropriate and least onerous and least restrictive disposition in the circumstances.
Index Offence
- The circumstances of the index offence have been extracted from the hospital report as follows:
“On May 9, 2023, at approximately 6:15 pm, two tenants were exiting the building when they came across a man lying on the landing. He had suffered significant injuries to his body resulting in a massive blood loss. The tenants called 911 and responding emergency workers arrived on scene and attempts to save the man were unsuccessful.
The victim was identified as William Bryant and he does not live at 2750 Carousel Cres. Records showed Bryant had an associate, Mr. Ahmed Ismail, who lived in the apartment building. Attempts to speak with Mr. Ismail were unsuccessful as he refused to speak with the police and only yelled through his closed apartment door.
Review of the video recording captured Mr. Ismail near the murder scene, at approximately 6:05 pm on May 9, 2023. Mr. Ismail's location and direction of travel could only be attained by exiting the stairwell and Mr. Ismail had what appeared to be blood stains on his clothing.
Mr. Ismail was later arrested exiting his apartment and a search warrant was executed on his apartment resulting in bloody clothes and other related items being recovered.”
Background History
Mr. Ismail’s personal, legal and psychiatric history is set out in detail in the Hospital Report (Exhibit 12). Briefly summarized, Mr. Ismail is presently 47 years of age and was born in Somalia. He was brought up by his biological mother until he was 5 years old when she passed away from surgical complications related to kidney stones. He had infrequent contacts with his biological father who has also passed away. His biological father had married several other times, and consequently, Mr. Ismail has a number of half-siblings.
Mr. Ismail was sexually assaulted by a male neighbour when he was 5 years old before his mother became ill. The assault occurred multiple times over several months and only stopped when the perpetrator moved to another city. Mr. Ismail did not report this sexual assault to anyone.
After his mother’s death, Mr. Ismail was adopted by a paternal uncle. Due to the war in Somalia, his adoptive family travelled to Ethiopia and then to Djibouti. He was there for two years before moving to Yemen. The family then flew to Buffalo and finally landed in Ottawa in 1992.
Mr. Ismail started Grade 7 in Ottawa where he learned English. He did well academically until Grade 9 when he lost interest in school. He was able to finish high school. After high school, he applied to go to university but was not admitted due to his low grades. He took one psychology course at Carleton University and did not complete it.
Mr. Ismail worked at a call centre for five years before moving to Edmonton in 2006. In Edmonton, he worked in the oil camps as a grounds keeper and cleaned the camp sites. He moved back to Ottawa in 2007 as he was homesick.
After he returned to Ottawa, Mr. Ismail stayed with his adoptive family who helped take care of him while his physical health was deteriorating. His kidney was starting to fail, and he underwent dialysis for almost two years. In 2009, he received a kidney transplant.
Once Mr. Ismail recovered from surgery, he helped his adoptive family run their Somali restaurant. He cleaned and helped with the cash register. By 2013, Mr. Ismail decided to move out again. He felt he was getting older and wanted to have more independence.
Criminal Record
- Mr. Ismail has no prior criminal record.
Psychiatric History
Mr. Ismail reports that he started hearing voices when he was five years old and that they would appear in stressful situations. They were at times aggressive and would command him to kill himself. In 2013, he started experiencing hearing two distinct voices, one female and one male.
In addition to auditory hallucinations, Mr. Ismail described experiencing changes to his taste and smell in 2022, which he interpreted as his family poisoning him.
The Hospital Report describes one outpatient psychiatric consultation in 1999 and another in 2022, when he was assessed by the Dr. Michael Ku with the Mobile Crisis Team. Subsequently, Mr. Ismail had several attendances at hospital emergencies, where he was diagnosed with Psychosis NOS, query delusional disorder, and prescribed oral risperidone.
Mr. Ismail’s current diagnoses are:
Schizophrenia, multiple episodes currently in partial remission;
Cannabis and alcohol use disorder, in sustained remission due to being in controlled hospital environment;
Unspecified Trauma and Stressor-related Disorder
Evidence at the Hearing
The hospital’s evidence was presented through its report as well as through the oral testimony of Dr. A. Alabi, who is Mr. Ismail’s attending psychiatrist at the Forensic Services of the Royal. This evidence is summarized below.
Following the NCR finding on November 27, 2025, Mr. Ismail returned to the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre where he remained until he was transferred to the Forensic Assessment Unit at the Royal on December 18, 2025.
According to Dr. Alabi, Mr. Ismail continues to present with positive symptoms of schizophrenia, including long-standing chronic auditory hallucinations which include a male voice and female voice who are constantly present unless he is otherwise distracted. The voices are derogatory and commanding in nature. They command him to hurt himself. Mr. Ismail reports that the auditory hallucinations have abated somewhat since the initiation of treatment with clozapine. Mr. Ismail is currently on a long-acting injectable (“LAI”) of Invega 100 mgs, every 28 days, and clozapine at a dose of 200 mgs.
Mr. Ismail has complex medical issues. He has hypertension controlled by medication. He is also taking medication for diabetes and has a history of deep vein thrombosis. Because of his kidney transplant many years ago, he is on immuno-suppressant medication as well as being on medication for dyslipidemia, constipation and seizure disorder.
Since arriving at the hospital, Mr. Ismail has not presented with any aggressive or violent behaviours, nor has he reported any urges to act out violently. The auditory hallucinations that he continues to experience are not commanding him to harm anyone but himself.
Mr. Ismail is compliant with treatment and engages with the members of his treatment team. Though insight into his major mental illness is developing, it remains partial according to Dr. Alabi.
Mr. Ismail is in the pre-contemplative stage of change regarding cannabis and alcohol use. His insight into the negative effects of substances on his major mental illness and associated risk of violence remains limited.
In response to questions posed to him by counsel for the Attorney General, Ms. Dufort, Dr. Alabi responded as follows:
(a) Mr. Ismail is not currently receiving any counselling for substance use issues as this is not available on the Forensic Assessment Unit (“FAU”). Dr. Alabi confirmed that the treatment team will help Mr. Ismail engage in addictions counselling and rehabilitation once he is ready for transfer to the Forensic Rehabilitation Unit (“FRU”).
(b) Mr. Ismail’s engagement has been minimal to date due to his complex presentation. He experiences nausea, dizziness and poor appetite and is having difficulty developing motivation to increase his participation. In the last week or two, he has started coming out of his room more often and mixing with other patients on the unit. This is due to the fact that he is less symptomatic than he was upon arrival.
(c) Dr. Alabi stated that once Mr. Ismail’s physical health is stabilized, he plans to increase the clozapine dose to better address his symptoms.
(d) Mr. Ismail has met with an occupational therapist who has assessed him as having suboptimal executive functioning and ability to meet his activities of daily living. He requires prompting for self-care and was observed to have difficulties with safe food handling and cooking. At this point, Dr. Alabi cannot say with certainty what degree of supervision Mr. Ismail may require. This will be further explored once he is closer to being discharged to the community.
(e) It is unlikely that Mr. Ismail would be ready to be discharged over the course of the next 12 months. He is currently not being optimally treated, has significant substance use issues, and will likely require close supervision.
(f) There is no evidence that Mr. Ismail will need to access travel passes over the course of the next year. It is unlikely that he would be travelling on his own and there is currently no person approved to accompany him for travel.
(g) Dr. Alabi agreed that there should be a non-contact provision with the members of the victim’s family.
(h) In Dr. Alabi’s opinion, Mr. Ismail could decompensate within days or weeks if he was to discontinue medication.
- In response to questions posed to him by counsel for Mr. Ismail, Mr. Sheivari, Dr. Alabi responded as follows:
(a) Dr. Alabi acknowledged that Mr. Ismail has two brothers and one sister who live in Ottawa and that privileges to enter the community of Ottawa could be used to spend time with them. Dr. Alabi is not aware of any other family members outside of Ottawa in Ontario. Mr. Ismail does have one sibling in Edmonton, Alberta.
(b) When Mr. Ismail is ready for discharge, it will likely be to some sort of supervised accommodation which will provide medication supervision.
(c) Mr. Ismail has been socially isolated for several years and has been encouraged to use the common areas of the hospital for socialization. He has not demonstrated any antisocial behaviours so far.
(d) Mr. Ismail was observed having interactions with aggressive co-patients to which he refrained from responding aggressively.
(e) Dr. Alabi believes that Mr. Ismail’s ongoing auditory hallucinations contribute to his isolation and his desire to keep to himself. Though he has been open with Dr. Alabi, Mr. Ismail is quite reserved and monotonous in his presentation.
- In response to questions posed to him by members of the hearing panel, Dr. Alabi testified as follows:
(a) If Mr. Ismail becomes ready for community living in the next year, it is likely to be towards the end of the 12-month period.
(b) Mr. Ismail has not yet been able to discuss the index offences. This will be a work in progress for the next year.
(c) Mr. Ismail is a cooperative patient so far. He has provided consent for information to be shared with his family. The family was invited to attend his case conference, but no one attended. Dr. Alabi stated that it is premature to contemplate whether Mr. Ismail could live with any members of his family.
(d) Mr. Ismail has a 27-year history of major mental illness and committed the most serious index offence. Dr. Alabi agreed that community living is premature and that this is the first time that Mr. Ismail is under intensive care for his major mental illness.
(e) Dr. Alabi acknowledged that if Mr. Ismail was to progress more quickly than anticipated, the hospital could ask for an early hearing to seek the addition of community living to the disposition.
(f) Mr. Ismail has no other history of criminal offending. His level of risk is currently attributable to his active psychosis, his suboptimal medication and his substance use issues. He has partial insight into his situation and his ongoing risk factors are not yet fully mitigated.
(g) Mr. Ismail is currently capable of consenting to treatment. He is considered treatment resistant.
(h) Mr. Ismail’s quiet and reserved presentation could be attributable to some cognitive decline and/or negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
(i) Mr. Ismail is not yet ready to transfer to the FRU. He will have to go through a process before being put on the transfer list. Once he is ready, the hospital will put him on the transfer list at which point he could have escorted passes on the hospital grounds while awaiting the transfer.
(j) Dr. Alabi agreed that the overall risk assessment places Mr. Ismail at least a moderate risk even though some of the actuarial risk assessments suggest low to moderate.
(k) Mr. Ismail has no recollection of the index offences and accordingly does not think that he poses a risk of violence to others.
In response to questions arising from counsel for the Attorney General, Ms. Dufort, Dr. Alabi acknowledged that clinical judgment, in addition to actuarial risk assessment, have led him to the conclusion that Mr. Ismail represents a moderate risk of future violence.
In response to a question arising from Mr. Sheivari, Dr. Alabi stated that Mr. Ismail is not currently experiencing hallucinations with respect to food, and that he is currently taking Ozempic.
At the request of Mr. James Bryant, the brother of the victim of the index offence, counsel for the Attorney General, Ms. Dufort, read out his victim impact statement. Mr. Bryant attended the hearing virtually by Zoom.
No further evidence was presented.
Closing Submissions
The hospital maintained its recommendation that Mr. Ismail presents a significant threat to the safety of the public and that a detention order is the necessary and appropriate disposition. Dr. Alabi added that he was certainly open to the panel leaving out community living at this time, given the very early stage of Mr. Ismail’s treatment and rehabilitation.
Counsel for the Attorney General, Ms. Dufort, submitted that community living should not be included in the disposition, nor should there be any travel or indirectly supervised community privileges.
Counsel for Mr. Ismail, Mr. Sheivari, supported the hospital recommendation, including the addition of community living, which could reasonably be limited to 24-hour supervised accommodation.
Analysis and Conclusion
Having considered all of the evidence tendered at the hearing, and the submissions of the parties, the Board finds that Mr. Ismail poses a significant threat to the safety of the public as defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code of Canada and as further defined in the Supreme Court of Canada decision Winko v. British Columbia (Forensic Psychiatric Institute), 1999 CanLII 694 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 625.
According to R. v. Winko, a significant threat to the safety of the public means a real risk of physical or psychological harm to members of the public that is serious in the sense of going beyond the merely trivial or annoying. The conduct giving rise to the harm must be criminal in nature.
Our finding that Mr. Ismail poses a significant threat to the safety of the public is based on the evidence that he has a long history of major mental illness and non-compliance with treatment and follow-up, compounded by cannabis and alcohol abuse. Mr. Ismail has suffered with serious and persistent psychotic symptoms which have never been adequately treated. While psychotic, Mr. Ismail acted out with physical violence in an extreme way, causing the death of an individual who was known to him. The gravity of the index offence in this matter cannot be overstated.
Mr. Ismail is in the very early stages of treatment. He has been in hospital only three and a half months after being admitted from the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre. He continues to experience psychotic and negative symptoms and is currently sub-optimally treated. He has not yet started participating in any psycho-social treatment for his illness or substance use issues.
Mr. Ismail has a long way to go before being ready for community privileges and/or community living.
Additionally, Mr. Ismail has been assessed as having functional limitations which will most likely require that he be placed in supervised accommodation, not only to manage his risk to the public, but to assist him with these deficits.
For these reasons, we do not believe that community living is reasonably foreseeable over the course of the next year. If Mr. Ismail exceeds all expectations and reaches a level of recovery and rehabilitation which would warrant his discharge from the hospital prior to his next hearing, an early review hearing can be requested.
We have taken into consideration the factors at s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code of Canada, namely the protection of the public, which is the paramount consideration, the mental condition of the accused, his reintegration into society and his other needs in coming to the unanimous finding that a detention order is the necessary and appropriate and least onerous and least restrictive disposition in all of the circumstances. The detention order shall contain the following terms and conditions:
Detention within the Secure Forensic Unit of the Royal;
Privileges up to and including indirectly supervised community access;
Abstain from the use of all drugs, alcohol or any other intoxicants;
Submit to random urine drug screening;
Weapons prohibition; and
No contact with family members of the victim of the index offences.
DATED this 19th day of May 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. M. Labrosse
Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board