A report into a triple stabbing at a festival in Vancouver含羞草研究社檚 Chinatown last year says the man accused of the crimes had been let out of a psychiatric care facility 99 times in the year prior without incident.
The report, authored by former Abbotsford Police chief Bob Rich, says the suspect in the stabbing, Blair Donnelly, was on his 100th unescorted leave from the BC Forensic Psychiatric Hospital on Sept. 10, 2023, when he allegedly stabbed three festivalgoers at the Light Up Chinatown Festival.
The external review was ordered by the provincial government after the stabbings.
Donnelly was a resident at the hospital after he was found not criminally responsible for killing his daughter in 2006 while 含羞草研究社渟uffering from a psychotic delusion that God wanted him to kill her,含羞草研究社� and he was then ordered to undergo treatment, the review said.
The man was granted an unescorted leave in October 2009, the report says, and he attempted to stab a man in Surrey, B.C., and was later sentenced to 45 days in jail for assault with a weapon.
Donnelly then went 含羞草研究社渆ight years without incident,含羞草研究社� before assaulting another hospital patient in 2017, but was again found not criminally responsible and granted an 含羞草研究社渁bsolute discharge含羞草研究社� by the court in that case, the report says.
Between August 2022 and Sept. 9, 2023, hospital records show that Donnelly was allowed to leave the hospital unsupervised 99 times without any issues.
Rich含羞草研究社檚 report said he found no breaches in policy, but noted the hospital含羞草研究社檚 含羞草研究社減atient care model 含羞草研究社� is not optimal含羞草研究社� for handling risky patients trying to 含羞草研究社渞eintegrate含羞草研究社� back into society.
含羞草研究社淚t is my opinion that some patients may never be well enough to live unsupervised in the community,含羞草研究社� the review said.
Rich含羞草研究社檚 report makes several recommendations to better handle 含羞草研究社渉igher-risk patients,含羞草研究社� including bolstering their care teams, improving policies around granting patient leaves, shoring up staff training in forensics and the use of 含羞草研究社渞isk-management tools含羞草研究社� such as GPS tracking systems.
The care team model includes a psychiatrist, a nurse and a social worker assigned to hospital patients for the duration of their stay, and had been in use at the facility before 2015, the review said, and should be policy again.
含羞草研究社淗aving a team that has witnessed the entirety of a patient含羞草研究社檚 hospital stay, and has in-depth knowledge of their index offence, is essential,含羞草研究社� the review said.
The B.C. Ministry of Health said Friday in a statement that it has accepted all of Rich含羞草研究社檚 recommendations and has already begun implementing them including 含羞草研究社渇ollowing new polices for granting leave privileges at the hospital.含羞草研究社�
Suspects found not criminally responsible by the courts come under the jurisdiction of the BC Review Board, which holds hearings and issues decisions about whether a patient should be kept in custody or allowed to live in the community.
Before the stabbings, Donnelly had been before the board in April 2023 for an annual hearing, and it found he 含羞草研究社渃ontinued to require intensive supervision含羞草研究社� at the hospital before being allowed out on unescorted leaves.
The board含羞草研究社檚 ruling from that hearing was leaked to the media after the attack, and Donnelly later tried to block publication of the board含羞草研究社檚 reasons on privacy grounds, but the attempt was dismissed in October 2023.
The board said in its ruling that its decision making needed to be open and transparent because the function of the board isn含羞草研究社檛 widely understood, even by those in the justice system.
含羞草研究社淭he Review Board含羞草研究社檚 role is to deal with individuals charged with criminal offences, often very serious criminal offences, who are either unfit, by reason of a mental illness, to stand trial or judged not criminally responsible as a result of a mental illness.含羞草研究社�
Court records show Donnelly is due back in Vancouver provincial court in March 2025.
