Assessment will take more time
Long-time criminal may be declared a dangerous offender
It’s taking longer than expected to complete a special psychological assessment of Ronald Teneycke that will be a factor for the Crown to consider as it mulls applying to have him locked up indefinitely.
Crown counsel Kurt Froehlich applied successfully to a provincial court judge Thursday in Penticton for a 30-day extension of the deadline to wrap up the work.
“There are further records which are being gathered which need to be provided to the Forensic Psychiatric Service. I expect that to be completed shortly,” Froehlich explained.
Teneycke did not oppose the application.
He said nothing during his brief court appearance via videoconference from the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, where he appears to have put on weight and grown a goatee.
Teneycke appeared sickly and gaunt when he was taken into custody in July 2015 following a crime spree in the Oliver area that began with him robbing the Eastside Grocery store at gunpoint, then shooting a man whose truck he stole on a forestry road outside the community.
He pleaded guilty in April to four offences: robbery, discharging a firearm with intent to wound, using a firearm to commit a robbery and flight from a peace officer.
Following his guilty pleas, the Crown applied for the expert assessment of Teneycke that it will use to help determine if it will apply to have him labelled a dangerous offender, which carries with it an indefinite jail term.
“He certainly by his conduct has shown a substantial degree of indifference in terms of the consequences of his actions on other people in the community,” Crown counsel Murray Kaay said at the time.
Teneycke’s criminal record dates back to 1981, but he gained notoriety in 2007 when police in the South Okanagan warned the public about his release from prison after completing a 12year sentence for sexual assaulting a teenager and threatening to kill a correctional officer. He has been in and out of jail ever since.