Simon N.M. Young

The appellant appealed his conviction and sentence for sexual assault and common assault.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction appeal, finding the trial judge made no errors of law and was not required to provide detailed self-instruction in her reasons.

The court upheld the three-year sentence for sexual assault but allowed the sentence appeal in part to delete an illegal two-year probation order that followed the penitentiary sentence, substituting a concurrent six-month sentence for the common assault.

The Crown appealed a decision of the Ontario Review Board granting an absolute discharge to the respondent, who had previously been found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and directed a new hearing, finding that while the Board reasonably determined the scope of its inquisitorial function, it erred by failing to consider all factors under s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.

Specifically, the Board focused almost exclusively on the respondent's previous conduct and failed to consider the danger posed by his immediate, unsupervised re-entry into the community given his severe mental illness, lack of insight, and likelihood of non-compliance with medication.