Sentencing of N.B. teen girl who fatally stabbed man, 78, adjourned until April
SAINT JOHN, N.B. — The sentencing of a 16-year-old New Brunswick girl who stabbed an elderly man in the neck and left him to die has been adjourned until next month to provide time to prepare a plan for a rehabilitation program.
The teen, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was found guilty in January of second-degree murder in the death of 78-year-old Frank Tonge.
Tonge was found slumped over a toilet in a pool of blood in his home in Damascus, northeast of Saint John, last June.
The law allows for a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, but Crown lawyer Lucie Mathurin is instead recommending a four-year program of intensive rehabilitation while in custody.
“Very few children are ever convicted of second-degree murder,” said defence lawyer David Lutz.
“We’re using all the resources of the justice system to make sure that this person who committed this crime gets fixed.”
During the trial, the girl testified she had been going to Tonge’s home for two years because he provided marijuana to satisfy her drug addiction in return for hugs and kisses.
Lutz argued she was defending herself because she thought she was going to be raped, but the Crown argued that she planned the murder after telling a friend she was going to kill Tonge.
Last month, at the start of the sentencing process, the accused told Justice Hugh McLellan of the Court of Queen’s Bench that she was remorseful for what she did to Tonge, his family and her own, and wanted help to conquer her drug addiction.
But in court Friday, McLellan expressed concerns about whether she was serious about getting that help.
“Since June she has so far refused educational programs and other help,” he said. “What can we do to motivate her?”
Mathurin said the girl is faced with the reality of either getting the help she needs “or we can close the door and let her rot behind bars.”
When asked by McLellan who is responsible for changing her life, the girl replied “myself.”
Lutz described his client as an extremely immature 16-year-old.
“When you start using drugs at nine years old, you stay there,” he said, but added he is confident she’ll co-operate in the program.
The Crown recommended that if the court orders her into the rehabilitation program, her case be reviewed after six months, and if she doesn’t co-operate that she be sent to prison.
In a direct comment to the victim’s family, McLellan said the program wasn’t a means of letting the girl off lightly.
“The program provides more help than the normal warehousing of the correctional service,” he said.
Sentencing has been adjourned until April 16.
