Alberta government presses to keep Australian woman who drowned boys in Canada

EDMONTON – Alberta justice officials says they are pressing the federal government to prevent a woman who drowned her two young sons from travelling back to her native Australia.

Allyson McConnell is scheduled for early release Thursday after serving two-thirds of a 15-month jail term for manslaughter.

The depressed and suicidal woman killed her children in the town of Millet, just south of Edmonton, in 2010.

Her former husband, Curtis McConnell, released a statement to Global News saying he believes his ex-wife is scheduled to fly home to Australia later this week.

Josh Stewart, a spokesman with Alberta Justice, says he doesn’t know if the woman is set to leave the country, but officials want to keep her here pending the outcome of an appeal by the Crown.

The Crown, who originally charged the woman with second-degree murder, is appealing her manslaughter conviction and sentence, but the Court of Appeal has not set a date to hear the case.

The Immigration and Refugee Board issued a removal order against McConnell last fall after her trial.