Quebec City mosque shooter's sentencing delayed by at least 2 months, sources say
Alexandre Bissonnette supposed to be sentenced on Oct. 29
Mass murderer Alexandre Bissonnette's sentencing will been postponed by at least two months, CBC News has learned.
Bissonnette was supposed to be sentenced on Oct. 29, but a new date will be chosen on Friday, sources close to the court case have told CBC.
Bissonnette opened fire on a room full of Muslim men and boys after prayers at a Quebec City mosque on Jan. 29, 2017.
He pleaded guilty in March.
He was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder, with five of those charges related to people who were critically wounded.
One of the attempted murder charges collectively includes 35 people — 31 men and four children — who witnessed the shooting.
During sentencing arguments in June, the Crown informed Quebec Superior Court Justice François Huot it is asking that Bissonnette be sentenced to life in prison without eligibility for parole for 150 years: 25 years for each count of first-degree murder, to be served consecutively.
It would be the harshest sentence rendered in Canadian history since the abolition of the death penalty.
Defence lawyer Charles-Olivier Gosselin called the amended article of the Criminal Code which allows for consecutive sentences "deeply flawed," because it neglects the principle of rehabilitation in the Canadian justice system.
With files from Catou MacKinnon