Annual review off for mentally ill B.C. father who killed his three children

VANCOUVER – An annual hearing to review the confinement of a mentally ill British Columbia man who killed his three children has been adjourned for 10 months.

The province's Criminal Justice Branch says Allan Schoenborn consented to delaying this Thursday's hearing while B.C. Crown lawyers seek to have him designated a "high-risk" accused, tightening his restrictions for confinement.

Schoenborn's last annual review at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital near Vancouver upset family members of his victims because he asked to be granted supervised outings into the community.

Schoenborn was successful in his bid last year — although he hasn't yet left the hospital grounds — and a court proceeding in May heard his treatment team was planning to oppose that privilege this year.

The Criminal Justice Branch says the hospital will not facilitate any supervised outings in the time before Schoenborn's next B.C. Review Board hearing in May 2017.

Schoenborn was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder in February 2010 after stabbing his 10-year-old daughter and smothering his eight- and five-year-old sons at their home in their Merritt, B.C.