Judge Ian Nordheimer sentenced D.B. as an adult. He has now been identified as David Bagshaw, and his photograph has been released (Blatchford 2009c; 2009d; 2009f; “Cold Blood and Adult Penalties” 2009; “Evil Must Be Taken Into Account” 2009; Small 2009; “Teen Guilty of 1st-Degree Murder in Death of Stefanie Rengel, 14” 2009).
References and Further Reading
* Cited by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Alphonso, Caroline. 2008. “Youth Violence Tied to Racism, Report Says.” Globe and Mail, November 14.
Anand, Sanjeev S. 1999. “Catalyst for Change: The History of Canadian Juvenile Justice Reform.” 24 Queen’s Law Journal 515.*
Appleby, Timothy. 2008a. “Youth Homicides Up 3 Per Cent in 2006.” Globe and Mail, May 17.
_____. 2008b. “Report Seeks $100-million for Youth Programs.” Globe and Mail, November 14.
_____. 2009a. “Police Presence in High Schools Makes the Grade.” Globe and Mail, February 5.
_____. 2009b. “Sentenced to Life, Gunman in Creba Slaying Unmasked.” Globe and Mail, April 25.
Bala, Nicholas. 1990. “Dealing with Violent Young Offenders: Transfer to Adult Court and Bill C-58.” 9 Canadian Journal of Family Law 11.*
_____. 1994. “The 1995 Young Offenders Act Amendments: Compromise or Confusion?” 26 Ottawa Law Review 643.
_____. 1997. Young Offenders Law. Concord, ON: Irwin Law.*
_____. 2003. Youth Criminal Justice Law. Toronto: Irwin Law.*
Bala, Nicholas, and Mary-Anne Kirvan. 2000. “The Statute: Its Principles and Provisions and Their Interpretation by the Courts.” In Juvenile Crime and Delinquency: A Turn of the Century Reader, edited by Ruth M. Mann, 45. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.*
Blatchford, Christie. 2008. “Creba Jury Delivers Stunning Guilty Verdict.” Globe and Mail, December 8.
_____. 2009a. “How to Sentence Evil: As a Youth, or an Adult?” Globe and Mail, January 29.
_____. 2009b. “iPod Killer Gets Adult Sentence for Murder on Ottawa City Bus.” Globe and Mail, February 13.
_____. 2009c. “No Remorse, No Mercy for Teenage ‘Puppet Master’.” Globe and Mail, July 29.
_____. 2009d. “Rengel Killer Gets Life for ‘Truly Evil’ Crime.” Globe and Mail, September 28.
_____. 2009e. “A System Focused Too Heavily on the Rights of the Violent.” Globe and Mail, January 30.
_____. 2009f. “Yes, These are Teenagers, But Murder Isn’t a Phase.” Globe and Mail, July 27.
“Cold Blood and Adult Penalties.” 2009. Globe and Mail, March 24.
“Crown Seeks Adult Penalty in Creba Case.” 2008. Globe and Mail, December 11.
Department of Justice. A Strategy for the Renewal of Youth Justice. Ottawa, 1998.*
DiManno, Rosie. 2009. “Creba Killer Gets Life — and a Name.” Toronto Star, April 25.
Doob, Anthony, and Carla Cesaroni. 2004. Responding to Youth Crime in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.*
Doob, Anthony N., and Michael Tonry. 2004. “Varieties of Youth Justice.” In Youth Crime and Youth Justice: Comparative and Cross-National Perspectives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.*
Doob, Anthony, Voula Marinos, and Kimberly N. Varma. 1995. Youth Crime and the Youth Justice System in Canada: A Research Perspective. Toronto: Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto.*
“Evil Must Be Taken Into Account.” 2009. Globe and Mail, July 29.
“Man, 20, Guilty of 2nd-Degree Murder in Jane Creba Shooting.” 2008. CBC.ca, December 8.
Manson, Allan. 2001. The Law of Sentencing. Toronto: Irwin Law.*
“Regina Teen Sentenced as Adult in Good Samaritan Killing.” 2008. Globe and Mail, November 28.
Rushowy, Kristin. 2007. “Last Spring’s Slaying of Jordan Manners, 15, Was Catalyst for Change at Troubled High School.” Toronto Star, December 26.
Sachs, Susan. 2008. “Report on Young Offenders Spurs Controversy in France.” Globe and Mail, December 15.
Seymour, Andrew. 2008. “Man Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder in Oatway Killing.” Ottawa Citizen, November 28.
“Sleight-of-Hand at the Supreme Court.” 2008. Globe and Mail, May 17.
Small, Peter. 2009. “‘No Sex Until Deed Done,’ Rengel Trial Told.” Toronto Star, March 20.
Sprott, Jane B. 1996. “Understanding Public Views of Youth Crime and the Youth Justice System.” 38 Canadian Journal of Criminology 271.*
_____. 1998. “Understanding Public Opposition to a Separate Youth Justice System.” 44 Crime and Delinquency 399.*
“Steinke Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder.” 2008. Globe and Mail, December 5.
“Teen Gets Maximum Sentence for Medicine Hat Killings.” 2007. CBC.ca, November 8.
“Teen Guilty of 1st-Degree Murder in Death of Stefanie Rengel, 14.” 2009. CBC.ca, March 20.
“Teen Sentenced as Adult in Michael Oatway Murder.” 2009. CTV.ca, February 12.
Chapter 3
Bullying:
Degrees of Harm
Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behaviour that involves an imbalance of power between the bully and victim. It is an attempt to inflict intentional harm on another and it may occur repeatedly. Often that attempt is carried out in a series of acts, such as harassment on the Internet (cyberbullying). Often, the acts of harassment are carried out by a group formed for that purpose. The end goal, as noted, is to inflict harm — to see the target hurt.
Bullying often takes place at school as a manifestation of problems germinating both outside and inside the school. A large number of youth are bullied: estimates indicate that one in five Canadian children are victims of bullying, and one in twelve students find themselves harassed on an ongoing basis. (http://www.child-abuse-effects.com/child-abuse-statistics.html)
Most young bullies are never brought before the criminal justice system. Some become known to parents and school authorities, who implement their own sense of what “justice” requires — such as an open assembly discussion or even school expulsion. Also, more family doctors (and pediatricians) are becoming involved in preventive bully action plans.
The school system itself has on occasion been implicated in bullying behaviour — such as at sporting events where some players see an open invitation to punish the opposition. The line between what society will permit and what the criminal law will condemn can be crossed. We will discuss one high school sporting event that resulted in the death of a player. The central question then became: What was the role of the criminal law where the act, resulting in death, took place on a playing field during a school event?
Other laws have been enacted that are designed to curb young offender behaviour, such as Ontario’s Parental Responsibility Act. This act states that under certain circumstances, parents of young offenders who (often as part of a group) have damaged or destroyed property may be taken to small claims court and held accountable up to $6,000. We will set out similar laws in other jurisdictions and the measure of their effectiveness in combating youth crime.
Among the questions raised in this chapter are:
Is there always a rational explanation for bullying?
How