Dear Editor:
Will someone please enlighten me about crime and its consequences?
A teenaged boy viciously stabs a fellow high school student and faces no incarceration (No Jail Time for W. Van Teen Stabber, North Shore News, Jan. 18).
I was appalled that our learned Judge Doug Moss experienced difficulty in making a decision in this case, noting that the stabbing was serious, violent and premeditated, and followed by a taunting text to the victim as he bled profusely in the ambulance en route to hospital.
The judge sentenced this brutal offender to two years of probation, including six months with a daily curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. I conclude that this punitive action will provide the remorseless offender with ample time for video games and TV.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act claims to prevent crime and ensure meaningful consequences for offences. Clearly, the act achieves neither and we have to question its validity. Our young people have rights and freedoms, particularly the right to safety. Their safety is compromised when offenders blatantly attack them knowing that there is no deterrent.
One of my concerns about our present justice system - and I am sure it is shared by many others - is the lack of appropriate deterrents. What does an offender fear if the punishment is a six-month curfew? In addition, as in the case of Moss, a judge will proclaim that the offender has no previous convictions and accordingly makes the sentence less severe. It seems that the offender's rights are considered to be more important than the victim's?
Someone please enlighten me about crime and its consequences.
Barrie Street North Vancouver
