Closing arguments for sentencing of the third youth involved in the beating death of Simon Grant wrapped up in La Ronge Provincial Court Monday.
The now 19-year-old offender was 17 at the time of the incident and can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).
With Grant’s friends and family watching via video from Kindersley, Judge Bob Lane opened proceedings by saying this is a, “very difficult case and a very, very difficult decision.”
The Crown opened with a recap of events that took place the night that Grant was attacked in his La Ronge restaurant, Louisiana’s Bar-B-Que.
In April of 2017, three males stormed the establishment wearing black masks and armed with a baseball bat and two BB guns.
They were looking to steal Grant’s Rolex watch and other jewelry.
Crown prosecutor Ruth Fafard described the social, emotional and financial devastation Grant’s wife Cora Laich and the couple’s daughter have been left with as a result of the fatal attack.
She added that without an adult sentence the community would be in grave danger and the length of a youth sentence would not be enough time to hold the young man accountable.
The Crown says the third offender was the ringleader and orchestrated the attack on Grant.
Fafard argued it would simply not be just to give him a youth sentence.
“The reason the crown is seeking a higher-level sentence, as in this case, is due to the normal range for manslaughter is 4-12 years, we feel that the violence and severity of this case takes that outside of the normal range of manslaughter,” Fafard told reporters.
She told the court the Crown believes a 13 to 15-year sentence more appropriate.
Defence lawyer Jessie Buydens touched on the accused’s less-than-ideal upbringing, explaining that he was in foster care at the age of five, experienced sexual abuse and that most of his family members have been in the correctional system.
She also said his grandmother is a residential school survivor and the negative effects of this system have been passed on to her grandchildren.
Buydens added that despite these hardships, the young man attended school while living in a tent.
He supported himself by selling drugs and alcohol.
The defence has requested a three-year Intensive Rehabilitation Custody and Supervision (IRCS) youth sentence to begin the day of sentencing, which is slated for this Thursday.
IRCS is a federally funded program through the Department of Justice, where the provincial and federal governments assume joint responsibility for a youth offender.
The program was created in 2003 as an option under the YCJA and offers specific therapeutic programs and services for young offenders who have mental health needs.
An IRCS candidate must be convicted of a serious violent offence such as first or second-degree murder, attempted murder, manslaughter or aggravated sexual assault.
The defence argued the treatment program in an IRCS sentence is far more comprehensive and an offender stands a much better chance for rehabilitation than under an adult sentence.
However, the Crown countered a major drawback of an IRCS sentence is the victim’s family has no knowledge of the location of the offender once the sentence has been served.
Fafard argued that with an adult sentence, information regarding the accused’s release would be known to the victim’s family, including a photo, conditions of release and their location.
“In terms of treatment, nothing can touch the IRCS sentence.” Judge Lane said
However, he said he did not want the family to think he has a particular preference for a youth or adult sentence in the case.
The young man, shackled at his wrists and ankles, was given the opportunity to address the court.
He had a prepared letter but mostly spoke off-script.
“I’m really sorry for what I have done, and I am not proud of it,” he said. “So many days, I feel that my life isn’t worth living.”
He continued to say he knows the family carries a life sentence but feels he does also.
The man said he has no plans of returning to a La Ronge.
“I’ve been trying my hardest in 2019, something clicked when I turned 19,” he said.
“This is the most difficult decision of my career by a longshot,” Judge Lane said
In September 2017, 19-year-old Austin Bird pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced seven years in prison for his role in the fatal beating of Simon Grant.
In March 2018, a 15-year-old boy also pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given the maximum youth sentence of three years in custody.
(PHOTO: Cora Laich, left, and Simon Grant, right. File photo.)