A 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty to seven weapons charges on Thursday in a case where police alleged the youth threatened to harm students at a Halifax high school in April.
The boy was originally facing 33 charges for crimes including the illegal possession and storage of weapons and creating online hate groups.
Crown prosecutors dropped 25 of the charges, including the four charges alleging he’d threatened people, in a provincial court hearing Thursday in Halifax.
Prosecutor Terry Nickerson noted during the hearing that the teenager also pleaded guilty in June to a single count of illegal possession of ammunition.
Court documents say the weapons the youth pleaded guilty to possessing include brass knuckles, four rifles and two shotguns.
However, outside of court, defence lawyer Tony Amoud said his client had called police to report himself before his April 24 arrest. Amoud said the teen showed “a willingness to address the issues that got him here in the first place.”
The lawyer said it was understandable there was public alarm when police first announced the boy’s arrest. However, he said the sentencing hearing scheduled for Sept. 3 would show the the investigation began with the boy asking for help.
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“This is a young man who called for help and that resulted in him being in custody and we want to make sure that rehabilitation is the main focus here and this young man gets the help he asked for,” Amoud said.
After the youth’s arrest in April, Halifax police charged him with weapons possession offences, uttering threats and unsafe storage of ammunition.
During a news conference at the time, police Chief Don MacLean commended investigators for acting swiftly to ensure the safety of Citadel High School, which is located about 900 metres from police headquarters, and has about 1,500 students in Grades 10 to 12.
However, he also asked the public to have empathy for the teen.
“While it is natural to react to these types of events with fear, I do urge people to also react with compassion,” MacLean said at the time. “Youth who consider violence as their last resort have been facing their own struggles and can be difficult to understand.”
The youth was remanded into custody in a provincial jail after his arrest and has remained in custody since then.
The court heard Thursday that a psychological assessment was ongoing and should be provided before the sentencing hearing in September.
Amoud said he plans to argue that his client should not spend any more time in jail.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover. These kind of situations … have a certain sensational, attention-grabbing nature to them, but like most cases, there’s always more to the story and more nuance that we see at the initial stage,” he said.
The Crown prosecutor wasn’t available for comment after the hearing.
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