A report into a triple stabbing at a festival in Vancouver害羞草研究所檚 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 害羞草研究所渟uffering from a psychotic delusion that God wanted him to kill her,害羞草研究所� 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 害羞草研究所渆ight years without incident,害羞草研究所� before assaulting another hospital patient in 2017, but was again found not criminally responsible and granted an 害羞草研究所渁bsolute discharge害羞草研究所� 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害羞草研究所檚 report said he found no breaches in policy, but noted the hospital害羞草研究所檚 害羞草研究所減atient care model 害羞草研究所� is not optimal害羞草研究所� for handling risky patients trying to 害羞草研究所渞eintegrate害羞草研究所� back into society.
害羞草研究所淚t is my opinion that some patients may never be well enough to live unsupervised in the community,害羞草研究所� the review said.
Rich害羞草研究所檚 report makes several recommendations to better handle 害羞草研究所渉igher-risk patients,害羞草研究所� including bolstering their care teams, improving policies around granting patient leaves, shoring up staff training in forensics and the use of 害羞草研究所渞isk-management tools害羞草研究所� 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.
害羞草研究所淗aving a team that has witnessed the entirety of a patient害羞草研究所檚 hospital stay, and has in-depth knowledge of their index offence, is essential,害羞草研究所� the review said.
The B.C. Ministry of Health said Friday in a statement that it has accepted all of Rich害羞草研究所檚 recommendations and has already begun implementing them including 害羞草研究所渇ollowing new polices for granting leave privileges at the hospital.害羞草研究所�
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 害羞草研究所渃ontinued to require intensive supervision害羞草研究所� at the hospital before being allowed out on unescorted leaves.
The board害羞草研究所檚 ruling from that hearing was leaked to the media after the attack, and Donnelly later tried to block publication of the board害羞草研究所檚 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害羞草研究所檛 widely understood, even by those in the justice system.
害羞草研究所淭he Review Board害羞草研究所檚 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.害羞草研究所�
Court records show Donnelly is due back in Vancouver provincial court in March 2025.
