18th adjournment granted in gang-style attack case

Despite 17 previous court appearances, another adjournment has been granted for a woman accused of arranging an attack on a younger boy last year.

Defence had hoped to make some progress in the case when it returned to Lethbridge provincial court last month, but lawyer Claudia Connolly told the judge she has a conflict, and she was permitted to withdraw as Trinity Savard’s counsel.

During a brief hearing Thursday, Calgary lawyer Andre Ouellette announced he is Savard’s new lawyer, and although he has received

“voluminous” amounts of disclosure, he needs time to review and discuss it with his client.

Savard, 19, is charged with one count of aggravated assault stemming from an incident at about midnight on Dec. 5, 2019, when a 16-year-old boy and an older teenage woman were walking in a dark alley just off Mayor Magrath Drive North. The boy was attacked from behind by several people and stabbed. The victim was taken to Chinook Regional Hospital with stab wounds to his back, then flown by STARS air ambulance to Calgary.

Alexander Roxby Styra, 20, was charged with aggravated assault and theft over $5,000. He pleaded guilty to the charges in June and was sentenced in September to 16 months in jail, minus 13 1/2 months for time he spent in pre-trial custody.

Two teenage boys were also charged in relation to the gang-style attack. Their matters remain before the court.

Both accused, who can’t be identified because of their age, are charged with aggravated assault. One of the boys is also charged with threats to cause death or bodily harm and obstructing a peace officer, while the other boy faces an additional charge of assault with a weapon.

During the police investigation of the assault, officers found a van that had been stolen Dec. 5 from a business on 13 Street North. The van was found parked behind an apartment building at 210 Mayor Magrath Dr. N., and inside one of the apartments police found a BB gun, a bloody three-inch folding knife, and the victim’s cellphone.

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