Is there JUSTICE in the YCJA?

 Six Months to Two Years for Youths who Swarmed and Beat Homeless Man to Death November 04, 1996  In April 1995, 58-year-old James Baldwin was viciously kicked to death by six youths in Dawson Creek who were aged 15 to 17 at the time. All of these young offenders were known to local police.  Their malicious murder of Baldwin as he lay sleeping in his tent was plea bargained down from second degree murder to manslaughter.  Jail sentences for the youths, including Jason Ray Whitford, ranged from 6 months to two years.

 Beating Leaves Teen with a Shattered Skull, Convicted Youths Sentenced to Five Months Jonathan Wamback  September 10, 2001  On June 29, 1999 Jonathan Wamback, a high school student looking forward to a summer of golfing, was walking in a local park in Newmarket, Ont when he was attacked by a group of youths aged 16 and 17. He managed to flee and tried to hide but was followed and savagely beaten.

 Jonathan almost died several times while being transported to Toronto’s Sick Children’s hospital and on the operating table after the attack.  The kicks to Jonathan's head and upper body shattered his skull and bone fragments severed major arteries. The internal bleeding was so massive, it compressed Jonathan's brain into his spinal cord, resulting in ripped and torn neuropathways and damage to the brain stem, the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes. Jonathan spent the next three months in a coma before beginning his slow climb towards recovery.

 Originally charged with attempted murder, the two accused were found guilty of aggravated assault and sentenced to one year in custody plus one year probation.  Both appealed on the grounds that one year in a youth facility is harsh and excessive. Both were freed during the appeals process, with one of the accused being re-arrested during this time for drug trafficking charges. Both sentences were reduced by the appeals court to 5 months in a youth facility

 One Day in Jail for Beating Death Sep  Members of Winnipeg's Kurdish community are sad and disgusted after hearing a teenager who beat a Kurdish refugee to death was sentenced to one day in jail.

 Twenty-two-year-old Chya Saleh died in August 2001, after being beaten with a pool ball in a sock. He had lived in Canada for just six months. Friends say he was working as a pizza delivery driver to try to earn enough money to bring his wife and parents to Canada from Iraq.

 A 17-year-old boy – who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act – pleaded guilty to manslaughter.  In addition to his day in jail, the teen will serve a 15-month conditional sentence in the community, followed by a year of probation. Another teen involved in the attack pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to one year of probation.

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