WINNIPEG — Two teens who plotted to corral students in a Winnipeg school auditorium and randomly open fire there and around the city “until they got tired” have been sentenced to two years in jail.
The 17-year-old male and his 18-year-old girlfriend, who cannot be identified under court order, had pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit murder.
At a sentencing hearing in October, Crown and defence lawyers recommended the teens be sentenced to two years in jail, followed by three years on supervised probation. Judge Brian Corrin wasn’t convinced, reserved his decision and asked the Crown to consider the matter further.
In the end, he accepted the joint recommendation.
“While it is always open to a sentencing judge to reject a joint recommendation, it is clear ... that great weight must be given to such recommendations,” Corrin said in his written decision Thursday.
“There was no actual attempt to kill anyone, just plotting and a plan. There were, therefore, no actual victims associated with the offence. Neither of the accused had a youth record.”
Neither teen showed any emotion as the probation conditions were read aloud.
They agreed to be sentenced as adults, although lawyers asked that they serve their jail terms in a youth facility.
Both teens apologized at the sentencing hearing.
The young man admitted he “really screwed up,” while the girl said she wanted to “apologize to the community and all that I have affected with this act of mine.”
The two were arrested in January after a friend anonymously tipped police upon learning of the plot.