The man who fatally shot three New Brunswick Mounties in 2014 has been charged with assaulting a fellow inmate in prison.
The RCMP say 34-year-old Justin Bourque and another inmate were charged in September with aggravated assault and possession of a dangerous weapon after a 28-year-old inmate was attacked at the Atlantic Institution, in Renous, N.B., on May 3, 2022.
The injured inmate was treated in hospital for what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.
On Sept. 11, 2023, Bourque and 31-year-old Christian Clyke from Halifax, N.S., were charged in connection with the attack.
They were scheduled to appear Thursday in provincial court in Miramichi, N.B., but RCMP spokesman Cpl. Hans Ouellette says he has yet to be told about the outcome of the hearing.
In October 2014, Bourque was sentenced to serve three consecutive life terms in prison — a total of 75 years — after he pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
In March of this year, a court reduced Bourque’s precedent-setting sentence because the Supreme Court of Canada had struck down the law that made it possible for judges to extend parole ineligibility periods beyond 25 years for people convicted of multiple murders.
As a result, he is now eligible to apply for parole after serving 25 years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2023.
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