A 16-year-old teen who pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Hannah Leflar has been sentenced as a youth, not an adult.
That means the public won’t learn the killer’s name.
Court heard the teen stood by and watched as his friend Skylar Prockner brutally stabbed the 16-year-old girl in January 2015.
Hannah’s family sobbed in court when the youth was sentenced to seven years under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
“The family’s upset. I don’t think they see this as closure. I think they were certainly hopeful that there would have been an adult sentence for this individual as there was for Mr. Prockner,” Crown prosecutor Chris White said. “They’re certainly disappointed.”
The youth’s brother stormed out of the courtroom after it was adjourned, shouting that the now 19-year-old deserved an adult sentence.
Justice Lian Schwann noted in her decision that while the youth’s testimony shifted dramatically under cross-examination, he always maintained that he froze when it came to the actual murder.
In her decision, Schwann said the question was whether the Crown has rebutted the youth’s presumption of lessened moral blameworthiness and culpability.
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The Crown had argued the youth had displayed uncommon maturity and knew that killing was wrong, “but chose to ignore this basic social norm.”
The defence argued that adult sentences are usually given when the offender did the actual killing, was a driving force behind it or had a significant criminal history. None of those circumstances applied to the youth, defence lawyer Greg Wilson said.
The judge gave the youth an Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision, or IRCS, sentence. It involves a specialized program for youth with a mental disorder who have committed a severe crime.
The teen will spend four years in custody and three years in the community.
Justice Lian Schwann gave him no credit for time already served.
“I get that it’s not a popular sentence. I get that a lot of people aren’t going to like it, but Canadian law is based on consistency, is based on principles, is based on the Youth Criminal Justice Act,” defence lawyer Greg Wilson said. “And at the end of the day, this is what we felt was going to be the appropriate outcome.”
There will be a placement hearing for the youth on Nov. 28.
Prockner pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced as an adult with no chance of parole for 10 years. He’s appealing that sentence.
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