Grade 9 student attacked by masked intruders at Nova Scotia high school
CBC
A Nova Scotia family is speaking out after two masked intruders entered a Halifax-area high school and violently attacked a Grade 9 student, prompting concerns about school safety and security.
On the afternoon of Jan. 16, Sylas Newcombe, 14, was walking between classes through the halls of Island View High School in Eastern Passage, N.S., when he was approached by two individuals wearing ski masks and hoods.
A video taken by another student shows a man confronting Newcombe, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him to the ground.
The masked man delivered about 10 punches to the boy’s head before kicking him multiple times as he lay on the ground protecting his face. The second person kicks him a few times, before the two assailants are seen escaping through the back door of the school and running away.
CBC News has determined the video is too graphic to show in full.
“I knew I wouldn’t win. I mean it was two huge guys wearing ski masks. They walked into my school. Obviously they don’t care. So I mean, I knew if I put my hands up and tried to fight them, it would have been a lot worse,” Newcombe said in a recent interview at his home in Dartmouth.
“Just protect yourself. Just guard up. Just don’t let them get at your face. Don’t let them, you know, beat you to a pulp.”
Newcombe said he was beaten until he blacked out.
Emergency personnel were called, and Newcombe was transported to the IWK children’s hospital by ambulance where he was treated for his injuries. He had a concussion, bruising to his face and neck, a bloody ear, and was having trouble hearing.
RCMP confirmed to CBC News that Bryson McGrath, 18, from Enfield, N.S., was charged with assault causing bodily harm and disguise with intent.
Police say the investigation into the second attacker is ongoing.
Duty counsel appeared on behalf of McGrath for an arraignment on Monday in Dartmouth Provincial Court. He's applied for a lawyer through Nova Scotia Legal Aid and the matter will be back in court on May 11.
At the request of the Crown, the judge imposed a publication ban to protect Newcombe's identity because he is a youth. The Crown did not ask him if he wanted publication ban in place.
He and his mother, Rebecca Newcombe, said they wanted to come forward and tell their story through CBC News. A section of the Criminal Code allows a person who is the subject of this particular publication ban to willingly disclose their identity.
The billionaire U.S. owners of the busiest land border crossing in North America turned to a high-powered lobbying firm run by former top aides to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in recent years, records show.
Students across the province are protesting recent changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) — the post-secondary financial aid system will go from a majority grant structure to a majority loan structure in the new school year.
A program at the University of Prince Edward Island that trains future French teachers once struggled to find students, but it's now seeing more interest than ever.
All school purpose vehicles outside of London, Ont. are cancelled Wednesday morning due to a thick blanket of fog causing poor visibility on the roads.
Gas prices in the Greater Toronto Area jumped six cents on Wednesday, with experts warning more increases are expected in the days ahead due to the U.S. and Israel-Iran war.
Albertans listening to the U.S. president’s state of the union address last week may have experienced a sense of deja vu when it came to Donald Trump’s plans for AI data centres: “We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs.”
A prominent labour organization in Newfoundland and Labrador that was pushing hard for topsides construction contracts on the Bay du Nord production vessel says a plan to invest in a massive floating dry dock will more than offset the loss of any work on the topsides.
Some Iranians in Sudbury, Ont., say they are ecstatic about recent attacks from the United States and Israel against Iran.
A Nova Scotia family is speaking out after two masked intruders entered a Halifax-area high school and violently attacked a Grade 9 student, prompting concerns about school safety and security.
Keith Hoyt’s cows used to be the neighbourhood celebrities.
It is a bluebird morning at Mont Tremblant ski resort, with the white peaks reaching into a clear sky.
The man responsible for the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash could be deported to India within weeks, leaving behind his wife and two children, who are pleading with Canada to let him stay.
Delays and closures, including the cancellation of several families of schools, are in effect across parts of P.E.I. Wednesday morning after an overnight snowfall on the Island.