Re: Yeshudyan Ragbir
ORB File No. 7264
Hearing Date: May 19, 2026
Hearing Location: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences
Pursuant to: Sections 672.48(1) and 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. T. Mann
Members: Dr. B. Sheppard Dr. W. Loza Mr. J. Cyr Mr. K. McKenna
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Yeshudyan Ragbir Counsel: Mr. A. Rai
The Person in charge of Hospital: Counsel: Mr. K. Dow
Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. N. MacDonald
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated June 12, 2026)
Introduction
Mr. Ragbir was found unfit to stand trial on November 17, 2017, for the Criminal Code offence of murder.
He is currently subject to a detention order under a Disposition dated June 18, 2025, with privileges that extend to hospital and grounds indirectly supervised, and passes for up to 12 hours to enter the community within a 150-kilometre radius of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (Ontario Shores) accompanied by staff or a person approved by the person in charge.
A panel of the Ontario Review Board (the panel) convened this annual hearing on May 19, 2026, at Ontario Shores to determine if Mr. Ragbir was currently unfit to stand trial, and to review the Disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada.
At the commencement of the hearing, the Hospital recommended that Mr. Ragbir be found unfit to stand trial and that he be subject to a detention order with privileges to include passes into the community for up to 12 hours indirectly supervised and living in the community in supervised accommodation approved by the person in charge.
Counsel for the Crown indicated that she would likely agree with the Hospital’s recommendations after hearing the evidence but wished to hear the evidence before taking a position with respect to indirectly supervised community passes.
Counsel for Mr. Ragbir supported the position offered by the Hospital, including Mr. Ragbir being found unfit to stand trial at this time and community living in supervised accommodation.
After considering the evidence, the panel concluded that Mr. Ragbir remains unfit to stand trial and that a detention order with the terms recommended by the Hospital was necessary and appropriate.
Outstanding Offence
- The facts pertaining to the alleged index offence are taken from the Hospital Report. The report indicates that on September 13, 2017, the father of the accused returned home from work to find his wife on the floor in a pool of blood. Emergency Services responded to the scene. Soon after the police arrived, Mr. Ragbir returned home and the police observed blood on his right hand. The police also observed a bloodied knife in the kitchen sink. Mr. Ragbir admitted to the police that he stabbed his mother in the neck several times and confined her to the bedroom until she collapsed. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Evidence-Hospital Report dated April 21, 2026
The evidence at this hearing consisted of the Hospital Report dated April 21, 2026, and the testimony of Mr. Ragbir’s treating psychiatrist, Dr. Bhullar.
Mr. Ragbir was born in Trinidad and immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of six. He quit high school in his mid-teens.
By the age of sixteen he was described as withdrawing into his own world. He has had approximately ten psychiatric admissions between 2010 and 2017. Some of these admissions were the result of a Form 1 under the Mental Health Act.
Mr. Ragbir has been diagnosed since adolescence with chronic schizophrenia and a cannabis use disorder. It appears from the evidence, however, that he has not used cannabis for a significant period of time pre-dating the assault on his mother. The schizophrenia is considered treatment resistant.
Following his arrest, Mr. Ragbir was detained at the Toronto South Detention Centre. The reports indicate that he was completely unaware of place and the role of others. His thought content was incoherent and disorganized, and he expressed grandiose beliefs, and appeared psychotic. A report dated September 22, 2017, states that Mr. Ragbir was so thought disordered it was impossible to get a coherent history from him. He expressed clear paranoia, grandiosity, and self-referential delusions. The initial fitness to stand trial assessment was conducted at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The assessment notes that Mr. Ragbir was responding to internal stimuli as well as being thought disordered. It described Mr. Ragbir’s answers to fitness questions as being nonsensical.
Mr. Ragbir was transferred to Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. The reports from Waypoint indicate that Mr. Ragbir remained disorganized and psychotic. His behaviour was often threatening and physically assaultive to staff and co-patients, which necessitated periods of seclusion. He expressed violent thoughts and would scream nonsense. He often caused damage to hospital property.
Over the ensuing years, until this past year, his condition and behaviour did not change to any appreciable degree. Mr. Ragbir regularly made inappropriate sexual comments to female staff and would occasionally touch their buttocks or arms. He did not respond to staffs’ direction concerning these comments and the touching.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) was started in December 2021, and modest improvements were observed.
In 2023, Mr. Ragbir was transferred to Ontario Shores. He continued to be unfit to stand trial and exhibited similar behaviour to his behaviour at Waypoint. Ontario Shores does note that Mr. Ragbir suffers cognitive impairment, particularly with memory. For example, he was unable to recall the names of staff who he had been interacting with for lengthy periods of time or recall the direction to familiar locations. The Hospital decided that a cognitive assessment was not feasible at that time because of his active psychotic symptoms which would distort the conclusions.
There was an occurrence recently when Mr. Ragbir was on a group outing into the community accompanied by staff. For no discernable reason, he became argumentative with a person, a stranger to him, who was simply walking down the street.
Mr. Ragbir applied for Developmental Services Ontario (DSO) funding, which was unfortunately denied this year. The Hospital was informed by DSO that Mr. Ragbir could reapply for funding once his psychotic symptoms subsided.
Mr. Ragbir has tended to shovel large amounts of food into his mouth which results in the potential for choking on his food. Staff have been very careful to monitor his eating for any indication of difficulty swallowing his food.
The Hospital Report indicates that Mr. Ragbir has demonstrated notable improvements this past year although he remained for the year on the secure Forensic Rehabilitation Unit.
He continued to present with disorganized and bizarre thinking and occasionally responded to internal stimuli. He also continued to endorse grandiose delusions. There was improvement, however, in his speech and thinking with the introduction of aripiprazole to his medication regimen.
Mr. Ragbir enjoyed engaging with staff and peers in recreational activities and engaged appropriately. He continues to have ongoing issues with chewing and swallowing food which is closely monitored by staff for possible choking.
The Hospital Report indicates that Mr. Ragbir has not exhibited any physical or verbal aggression this past year even though his thinking is disorganized at times and he experienced periodic paranoia.
A cognitive assessment was performed this past year and concluded that Mr. Ragbir does suffer from cognitive impairment in addition to the symptoms of schizophrenia. The assessment determined that Mr. Ragbir has a low ability to learn. He has great difficulty understanding information that is provided orally, which exacerbates the memory deficiencies. A comment was made to the effect that he cannot remember something he didn’t learn in the first place. The assessment states that he will continue to have difficulty learning, retaining and responding to information presented to him orally.
Mr. Ragbir has been using accompanied hospital/grounds privileges and accompanied community privileges without concern and has been engaged in various therapeutic programs. Given this progress, the team has now begun working toward a trial of indirectly supervised hospital privileges. This gradual process will include staff assessing his ability to locate phones for example, and his ability to locate areas within the hospital. They will also monitor his ability to check in with staff at the appropriate time. This will be the process used to evaluate his potential for greater independence and a possible transition to a general forensic unit.
Mr. Ragbir enjoys the support of his family, father, brother and sister, who visit him frequently at the Hospital. His brother, Yeshua, is Mr. Ragbir’s substitute decision maker for psychiatric treatment.
Evidence-Testimony Dr. Bhullar
Dr. Bhullar is Mr. Ragbir’s treating psychiatrist and testified at this hearing.
She stated that she assessed Mr. Ragbir for fitness to stand trial within a few days of the hearing and, in her opinion, he remains unfit to stand trial. She further provided her opinion that Mr. Ragbir is permanently unfit to stand trial. He is unable to identify the outstanding charge and denies that he has been charged with murder when that is suggested to him. He has very limited knowledge regarding the trial proceedings, the plea options and the role of various court personnel. He routinely answered questions with disorganized thoughts or simply stated that he didn’t know the answer. Mr. Ragbir exhibited limited understanding of the consequences of a guilty or not guilty plea, and very little understanding of an oath or the meaning or effect of perjury. During the various fitness assessments conducted periodically throughout the review year Mr. Ragbir typically presented with disorganized and incoherent thinking. Occasionally, an assessment had to be prematurely terminated because of his mental state.
There is ample evidence to support a finding that Mr. Ragbir is unfit to stand trial and cannot meaningfully participate in the proceedings and instruct counsel.
Dr. Bhullar testified that Mr. Ragbir has had a successful year. He is now able to walk to various parts of the hospital on his own. She confirmed his positive relationship with staff and peers, and that there have been no episodes of violence or aggressive behaviour.
For Mr. Ragbir to progress to independent access to the community or community living, Dr. Bhullar would like to see Mr. Ragbir demonstrate an ability to manage on his own within the hospital. He currently has the maximum privileges available to someone on the secure forensic unit, so a transition to a general forensic unit would allow greater privileges to be introduced. She emphasized that Mr. Ragbir has not achieved indirectly supervised passes to date.
Dr. Bhullar also indicated that identifying possible community housing has been complicated by the denial of funding by DSO.
In Dr. Bhullar’s opinion, Mr. Ragbir remains a significant threat to public safety. This is a result of his treatment resistance mental illness, his history of violence and aggression in the community and in the hospital, and his poor insight into his illness and the need for treatment. Despite the extensive treatment he is receiving, Mr. Ragbir continues to experience disorganization, grandiose delusions and perceptual disturbances. Without the supervision of the Review Board, Mr. Ragbir would likely discontinue treatment which would exacerbate his psychotic symptoms and result in violent behaviour.
In answer to questions from Crown Counsel, Dr. Bhullar acknowledged that the cognitive impairment and the schizophrenia contribute to Mr. Ragbir being unfit to stand trial. Dr. Bhullar also acknowledged that it will take considerable time to find suitable housing for Mr. Ragbir, and that it is unlikely he would be discharged to live in the community in the next year.
Dr. Bhullar agreed with suggestions from counsel for Mr. Ragbir that there has been no physical violence this past year, and that it is appropriate to include a term in the Disposition permitting community living even if the purpose is to simply have Mr. Ragbir placed on a waitlist. Dr. Bhullar confirmed that this past year was Mr. Ragbir’s best year at Ontario Shores.
In response to questions from the panel, Dr. Bhullar stated that any community housing being considered for Mr. Ragbir would have to provide significant support and supervision. The housing would have to provide 24/7 supervision.
Dr. Bhullar also confirmed that Mr. Ragbir continues to receive a maintenance level of ECT every 3 weeks in addition to clozapine.
Submissions
Crown Counsel acknowledged the advancements made by Mr. Ragbir this past year and advised the hearing that she was supporting the Hospital’s recommendations including the suggested indirectly supervised passes into the community and community living in supervised accommodation.
Counsel for Mr. Ragbir submitted that Mr. Ragbir remains unfit to stand trial, and that a detention order with the terms suggested by the Hospital is appropriate. Counsel referred to Mr. Ragbir being on a positive trajectory and that there will hopefully be a move to a general forensic unit this year. He also submitted that it is appropriate at this time to include indirectly supervised community passes and community living in supervised accommodation.
Analysis
Mr. Ragbir is diagnosed with treatment resistant schizophrenia. He continues to experience disorganized thought, grandiose delusions and perceptual disturbances. A cognitive assessment occurred this year and concluded that there is cognitive impairment which has a particular impact on his memory. The clinician determined that Mr. Ragbir has great difficulty understanding verbal communication which affects his ability to recall what was said. It is understandable that any progress made by Mr. Ragbir will be very gradual, and that he will require strong supervision and support moving forward. This is best accomplished with a detention order. With these limitations, the panel accepts that Mr. Ragbir is unable to meaningfully participate in the trial process and is unfit to stand trial.
Mr. Ragbir has a history of violent and aggressive behaviour, both in the community and in the various hospitals. Until relatively recently, his behaviour included inappropriate sexual comments to female staff, inappropriate touching and damage to hospital property. This behaviour occurred in the hospital environment where he was receiving extensive support and supervision, along with the appropriate treatment for his illness.
Without a detention order, Mr. Ragbir would most likely stop taking his medication and disengage from treatment. His symptoms would become more frequent and intense, resulting in erratic behaviour that would be aggressive and violent as evidenced by his past behaviour. His cognitive limitations would also impair his ability to continue with treatment without supervision and support.
Mr. Ragbir has made progress this past year. There have been no episodes of violence, and he has been engaging well with staff and co-patients. It is appropriate for the Hospital to gradually increase his privileges and monitor his ability to exercise more independence without difficulty. It is anticipated that Mr. Ragbir could progress sufficiently to allow him to be transferred to a general forensic unit. From the general forensic, unit more extensive privileges would be available. It is appropriate, therefore, to include the terms permitting indirectly supervised passes into the community. It is also very reasonable in the circumstances to include a community living clause in supervised accommodation in this Disposition.
A detention order with the terms recommended by the Hospital is necessary and appropriate.
In coming to this conclusion, the panel has applied the principles in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code.
Dated this 12th day of June 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Kevin McKenna Legal Member
Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board