Jail term for teen who assaulted woman

A local judge warned a teenager, who cold-cocked a middle-aged woman after chasing her into a convenience store, to address his demons before it’s too late.

“At 17, you are in the prime of your life, physically. She’s not,” Judge Fergus O’Donnell said Friday during a sentencing hearing in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.

The teen, who cannot be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was sentenced to six months in jail on a charge of assault causing bodily harm.

Based on the time he had spent in pretrial custody, the youth must serve an additional 45 days.

The teen was arrested in August after a woman reported she had been chased into a Niagara convenience store by a group of young people. Surveillance video from the stores shows the defendant striking the woman in the head, knocking her unconscious.

The woman sustained significant injuries as a result of the assault and now suffers from memory loss and nightmares.

“She is always looking over her shoulder,” the judge said. “She can’t come downtown because she feels stressed. She does not feel safe.”

Court heard the defendant had a difficult childhood and struggles with alcohol and drugs.

He was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the attack.

“If alcohol was invented today, it wouldn’t get government approval,” the judge said.

“Alcohol affects different people in different ways. People need to have a really mature relationship with alcohol. Some people need to have no relationship with alcohol.”

The judge also noted the teen’s lengthy criminal record, which includes more than 25 convictions for numerous offences including assault.

“This needs to change before you become an adult,” he said. “You have this chance when you’re under 18 to mess up without having lifelong consequences. After 18, you don’t.”