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A youth pleaded guilty on Aug. 21 in Barrhead Court of Justice to shooting a BB gun out the window of a moving vehicle, hitting a student at a Westlock school earlier this year.
Crown Prosecutor Stacey Purser asked the court to impose 12 months of probation or a conditional discharge, while defence lawyer Richard Forbes asked for an absolute discharge.
“I know you raised your eyebrows,” Forbes told Justice Jordan Stuffco about his request.
Forbes argued that given the unique circumstances, an absolute discharge would best serve the youth’s rehabilitation. He highlighted the youth’s positive contributions to community organizations and his involvement in volunteering.
An absolute discharge would allow the youth to resume his volunteer work with a service organization, which provided a positive letter to the court saying they are eager to have him back.
In contrast, a conditional discharge would prohibit him from volunteering for the organization for three years and probation would limit it for four years.
Forbes told the court that the youth had never even been to the principal’s office before this incident, had undergone counselling, had never displayed aggression, was remorseful, and had written a letter of apology to the victim. The incident, which resulted in a minor shoulder injury to one student, was described by Forbes as an isolated lapse in judgment.
Stuffco, after hearing Forbes’s arguments and reading the support letters, agreed.
“Only in this rare circumstance do I think an absolute discharge would be appropriate,” said Stuffco, pointing out that a conditional discharge could hinder his participation in positive activities that steer him toward responsible adult life.
“The school has severely punished him,” said Stuffco, adding that the Pembina School Division has an “excellent school board that took prompt and decisive action to impose meaningful consequences.”
The judge said that while exposure to firearms on the youth’s farm at a young age might make BB guns seem less threatening, they are still considered dangerous weapons.
“Imagine if someone at school had their eye taken out. Wouldn’t that be horrible?
“As a potential community leader out in the rural areas you should be an example to other kids on how to properly use firearms," he added.
The youth, who can’t be named due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, has been ordered to comply with a mandatory DNA order as part of his guilty plea to assault with a weapon.
“Don’t disappoint me,” said Stuffco. “I’m a young judge and I will be floating around here for a while. I don’t want to see you here for anything else.”
