The Crown has waived an adult sentence against a Laval youth who was found guilty of the manslaughter of his 15-year-old best friend following an argument over a girl.
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No expert report put forward that such a sentence was justified for the accused, while the representations for his sentence began yesterday at the Laval courthouse.
“It is not crystallized in the commitment to crime”, therefore came to explain the psychologist Patrick Terrisse, who had to assess the personality of the young person.
According to him, the accused feels remorse and recognizes the seriousness of the actions which caused the death of his friend, in January 2020.
On the evening of the fateful events, a dispute between young people degenerated and a 15-year-old teenager was stabbed in the chest by his longtime friend.
The accused, who was 16 at the time of the tragedy, had been charged with premeditated murder, but was ultimately found guilty of manslaughter.
Being a minor, a publication ban prevents us from revealing his identity, as well as that of the victim.
At trial, the accused maintained that he had used his weapon in self-defence.
Mistrustful
Patrick Terrisse also explained that the young person showed a lot of mistrust and antisocial behavior.
Another expert said the youngster was often “on the defensive”.
He seemed to fear that his words would be used against him to subject him to an adult sentence.
“He very much sees this whole process as the number of days that will be imposed on him. He sees everything as a threat, as something that could affect the sentence that will be assigned to him, “said Sandra Beaudin, a criminologist who evaluated him.
According to her, there were several situations where the accused refused to tell the truth and it was only when confronted with undeniable facts that he ended up confessing.
This is particularly the case when he wanted to put the girl at the heart of the conflict on his contact list. He then claimed that it was a new acquaintance, met after the tragedy.
Sentencing submissions continue this week.