THUNDER BAY - A teen girl has been sentenced for a July incident where she attacked her cousin with a box cutter knife leaving her with several cuts to her arm as well as a dislocated shoulder.
The 15-year-old girl appeared in a Thunder Bay courtroom by audio on Tuesday, Aug. 11, to plead guilty to one count of aggravated assault in connection to the incident. The teen’s name cannot be published as well as any information that could identify her due to publication bans under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Judge Peter Bishop told the teen the incident appeared to be random while he sentenced her to 30 days of custody to be followed by 15 days of community supervision.
“I don’t know why this happened. But it seemed to be completely out of the blue attacking your cousin with a box cutter,” Bishop said.
Crown prosecutor Katrina van Kessel told the court police were called to a city park on July 16 just before 7 p.m. to respond to reports of a female crying hysterically. Police located two individuals, one of them being the accused and a male, who were both uncooperative and unwilling to provide a reason why the female was crying, Van Kessel said.
A different female who was bleeding and had several cuts to her arm approached a police officer and told him she had been assaulted by the accused with a boxcutter-style knife at a residence nearby. The accused was arrested by police for aggravated assault.
The complainant was transported to the hospital where she was treated for five cuts which were all approximately one-inch in length as well as a dislocated shoulder and a cut to her forehead.
The teen’s lawyer, Justin McConnell, and the Crown submitted a joint sentence for the girl.
After her sentence, she will be placed on a 12-month probation period where she will be required to stay away from alcohol, drugs, weapons and attend counselling for anger management if she is directed by her probation officer. She is also required to stay away from her cousin unless written consent is given.
The girl also received a separate three-year weapons prohibition order.
