NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. - A Crown lawyer says a man found not criminally responsible for killing his three children poses too much of a threat to be allowed escorted outings into the community.

Wendy Dawson told a B.C. Supreme Court judge that the brutal nature of the murders committed by Allan Schoenborn suggest there is a "substantial likelihood" he would behave violently and he should be designated a high-risk accused.

Schoenborn killed his 10-year-old daughter Kaitlynne and his sons Max and Cordon, aged eight and five, at the family's home in Merritt in April 2008.

A court found Schoenborn not criminally responsible for the deaths because he was experiencing psychosis and believed he was protecting his children from sexual abuse, though no evidence suggested this was the case.

If Schoenborn is designated a high-risk accused it would severely limit the possibility of outings for him and extend the time between his review-board hearings to three years.

The legislation of the high-risk designation was brought in under the previous Conservative government, and former prime minister Stephen Harper used Schoenborn's case as an example when he introduced the law.