Delroy Apple, a man with 39 criminal convictions in Canada who was found not criminally responsible for a 2019 aggravated assault that left a stranger with multiple stab wounds, is moving toward greater freedoms from Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby, Ontario, despite continuing to represent a significant threat to the public, according to a June 25 decision from the Ontario Review Board (ORB).
Background of the Attack and Criminal History
On July 17, 2019, Apple attacked a stranger in a Toronto convenience store by shattering two glass bottles from a shelf, wrestling the victim to the floor, and stabbing him multiple times with the shattered bottles. Store staff intervened, and the victim was taken to a trauma centre for treatment. Apple was found not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder in April 2020.
Apple has an extensive criminal record beginning in 2005 in New Jersey, where he was convicted of drug charges and deported back to Guyana. From 2012 through 2018, he was convicted of 39 criminal offences in Canada, including sexual assault (two counts), assault with a weapon, armed robbery, assault of a peace officer, indecent assault, and multiple breaches of probation and recognizance.
Mental Health Diagnoses and Substance Use
Apple has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality traits, and a severe amphetamine-type substance use disorder. When living in the community, he frequently visited hospital emergency departments for symptoms of paranoia and psychosis brought on by the use of crystal methamphetamine, according to the ORB decision.
Born in Guyana, Apple experienced physical and sexual abuse as a child. He moved to Canada in 2003 and lived with relatives, then moved to the United States to live with his father until he was deported in 2005. He returned to Canada in 2010 as a protected person based on his LGBTQ classification. He married a woman in 2011, but they separated the following year. Since 2014, he has been financially supported by the Ontario Disability Support Program.
Current Status and Future Risks
Apple currently resides at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences. The ORB decision notes that he continues to represent a significant threat to the public, but the board is allowing him to move toward greater freedoms, including potential conditional discharges. The decision did not specify the exact new liberties granted, but it reflects the board's regular review process for individuals found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder.
The ORB emphasized that Apple's risk remains high, particularly if he discontinues treatment or resumes substance use. The board's ruling balances public safety with Apple's rights to rehabilitation and reintegration under Canadian mental health law.
