‘No school community should have to face such violence, shock and fear’
Judge sentences two more youth for violent attack at Prince of Wales Collegiate
One of two teenagers in provincial court Wednesday, March 20, for a violent attack on a St John’s high school student protested his sentence after Judge James Walsh delivered it.
“Excuse me, Your Honour,” the 16-year-old boy said before court adjourned, speaking on video from the Newfoundland and Labrador Youth Centre in Whitbourne.
“I’m not judging you on my sentencing, whatever you think is fair, but I don’t know. Another year here? I’ve been using my resources and doing good.”
TWO-YEAR SENTENCE
The boy has been in custody for a year, although he has spent two months of that time serving a sentence for an unrelated robbery and other violent crimes.
Walsh, who explained to the youth that his lawyer could request a review of the matter, had just handed him a two-year sentence, divided as required by the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) between secure custody and the community: 12 months in jail, six months under community supervision, and six months on probation.
The boy’s 18-year-old coaccused, who was denied bail last May, received an 18month sentence: four in jail, two under community supervision, and 12 on probation.
The YCJA doesn’t require judges to award credit to youth for the time they’ve spent on remand and Walsh declined to give it to either of them, despite the requests of defence lawyers Jonathan Reagan and Kevin Baker.
THE ATTACK
The two youth were among five people charged with the attack, which happened at Prince of Wales Collegiate around lunchtime March 9, 2023. Prosecutors Nicole Hurley and Ashley Targett presented details of the incident to the court through an agreed statement of facts, video footage and impact statements from the 16-yearold victim, who was left with serious head injuries, as well as his loved ones and school staff.
Those details are banned from publication until the last of the accused, Tyler Greening, has his day in court.
Greening, who was 18 at the time of his arrest, is the only one of the teenagers considered an adult, and since he has the option of choosing a trial by jury, the evidence presented for his co-accused is not reportable, to protect his right to a fair trial.
THE VICTIM
“No victim should have to experience what the victim has had to experience,” Walsh said.
“No parent should have to experience what his parents have gone through as a result of this shameless attack. No educator should have to experience what was done to the victim around them. No school community should have to face such violence, shock and fear.
“One can only hope that both (accused) change their ways when their sentences conclude.”
The judge described the victim as brave for having attended part of the sentencing hearing in January.
THE CHARGES
All five accused were charged with attempted murder, though the four youth pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of aggravated assault instead. Two also pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and wearing a disguise with the intent to commit a crime.
Two years is the maximum sentence permitted for those crimes under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which presumes youth have less moral blameworthiness than adults and requires their sentence to be the least restrictive option that will serve the purposes of sentencing, rehabilitating and reintegrating the youth, promoting a sense of responsibility in them, and acknowledging the harm they’ve done.
In January, Judge Jacqueline Brazil gave one of the youth, who was 14 at the time of the attack, a two-year sentence minus remand credit, leaving him with 16 days left to serve in secure custody at the Whitbourne facility.
She sentenced another of the accused, age 16, to 15 months in total, with no remand credit.