Arnold Bernard Walker

The provincial director applied under section 98 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act to continue custody for a young person convicted of attempted murder who had been released to community supervision.

The court found the application was improperly brought under section 98 rather than section 104, but proceeded on the merits applying the section 104 test.

The young person, now 19, had committed a brutal stabbing of his 8-year-old foster sibling at age 17.

Despite troubling psychiatric evidence regarding violent and sexual ideation disclosed in therapeutic settings, the court dismissed the application, finding that community-based supervision programs, including intensive monitoring, mental health treatment, and structured support, were adequate to manage risk and better serve the purposes of rehabilitation and reintegration under the YCJA.

A 17-year-old youth was found guilty of attempting to murder his 8-year-old foster sibling by slitting the child's throat while the child slept.

The youth called 911 and turned himself in, acknowledging his intention to fatally harm the victim.

The victim survived by millimetres when the jugular vein was missed.

The court imposed a 27-month custody and supervision order under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, balancing the serious nature of the offence against the youth's troubled background, mental health issues, and prospects for rehabilitation.

The court granted credit for pre-sentence custody, addressing the statutory requirement to take detention into account and the principles of the YCJA.