Woman given suspended sentence in gang-style attack on teenage boy

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on December 1, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A former Lethbridge woman charged with aggravated assault following a gang-style attack on a teenage boy two years ago, has been given a suspended sentence after being found guilty of a less serious charge of common assault.
Trinity Savard, who now lives in B.C., was also placed on probation for 18 months following Judge Gregory Maxwell’s verdict Monday in Lethbridge provincial court. Maxwell said there was no evidence proving Savard knew one of her friends was planning to stab the young boy, or that she participated in the assault, even though she lured the victim where he could be attacked. 
The 20-year-old woman, who had turned 18 the day of the attack on Dec. 5, 2019, stood trial last April, but never testified, and her lawyer, Andre Ouellette of Calgary, never called any evidence.
However, the victim, who can’t be identified because he was only 16 years old at the time, testified during Savard’s trial that he had arranged to buy some marijuana from the woman and met her at a strip mall near her apartment on the northside. After a brief discussion they headed to her residence to get the marijuana, but as they walked through an alley he was attacked by a group of people.
Several individuals ran up behind him, knocked him to the ground and began kicking and punching him. One of the attackers also stabbed him.
“They were all kicking and punching me,” he testified at the trial.
One of his attackers got on top of him and stabbed him three times in the back before they all ran away.
The victim was paralyzed from the waist down and had to be flown to a Calgary hospital where he remained for several months. He testified he still has difficulty walking and has not regained all of his balance, and he occasionally has “shooting pain” in his thigh.
Although Savard was not accused of stabbing the boy, she was charged as party to the offence.
Maxwell said Monday the attack was planned at Savard’s apartment during her 18th birthday party, and her role in the attack was to meet the boy nearby and lure him into the alley where the others waited.
“There is in my mind, clearly, a plan to beat him up,” Maxwell said. But he added he is not convinced she knew anyone had a weapon.
Ouellette urged the judge to give his client a conditional discharge, which would not result in a criminal record as long as Savard doesn’t breach a period of probation. He said the woman moved to B.C. to get away from the bad influences of her friends, but she plans to return to Alberta so she can attend school in Edmonton. She is also “extremely remorseful,” he added.
Crown Prosecutor Adam Zelmer opposed Ouellette’s recommendation, and said “a conditional discharge would not be appropriate.” He pointed out assault can attract a broad spectrum of sentences, and he proposed a period of custody, either in jail or through a conditional sentence order. A conditional sentence allows an accused to serve the sentence in the community, typically under house arrest or curfew, or a combination of both.
Maxwell said he is not prepared to place Savard in custody, even under a CSO, or give her a conditional discharge because Savard was still a party to the offence and is just as responsible as the other boys for attacking the victim.
“So effectively, the gravity of your offence is exactly the same as was those boys that decided to beat him up.”
One of the boys testified during Savard’s trial and admitted he stabbed the victim. He pleaded guilty previously in youth court and is scheduled to be sentenced early next year. Another youth who previously pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, was sentenced to six months of custody and three months of community supervision for being a party to the assault. And a 20-year-old man, who was also considered a party to the offence, was charged with aggravated assault and theft over $5,000. He pleaded guilty to the charges last year and was sentenced to 16 months in jail, minus 13 1/2 months for time he spent in pre-trial custody.
During her probation Savard must take counseling for life skills and whatever else her probation officer deems necessary. She must also abstain from alcohol and drugs, not possess any weapons, and not have any contact with the victim or a woman who witnessed the assault.

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