Teen handed 18-month sentence for swarming attack that killed Grade 10 student

A young man who took part in a fatal five-on-one swarming attack outside an Edmonton high school has been handed an 18-month sentence.

The young man, who was found guilty of manslaughter after a protracted trial, will spend nine months in jail and nine months under supervision in the community, followed by a year of probation.

He's the fifth teen to be sentenced out of seven, in total, who were charged in connection with the death of 16-year-old Karanveer Sahota. The Grade 10 student died after he was stabbed shortly after leaving school on the afternoon of April 8, 2022.

A court-ordered publication ban on the victim's name has been in place over the last year. It was lifted Wednesday after Court of King's Bench Justice Gillian Marriott approved an application to remove it, at Sahota's family's request.

A publication ban continues to cover the name of the school where the attack happened. All of the accused in the case were younger than 18 at the time of the attack and they can't be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Victim impact statements were read into the court record again Wednesday, with Sahota's friends and family describing the pain of his loss, and others in the community speaking of the fear they now feel that their children won't be safe at school.

Crown prosecutor Jeff Rudiak told the court Wednesday there seems to be "no particular reason" why the attack happened.

"[The victim] was really a sitting duck. He was completely defenceless," he said.

Marriott accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence on the teen's sentence. She said while there's no evidence that he stabbed Sahota, or had any type of weapon, he was still an active participant in the group assault.

"He engaged in the initial assault where it was just himself. He then followed Mr. Sahota as he was trying to get away and tackled him, effectively preventing him from being able to get away and enabling the intense attack that followed," Marriott said.

"This was and is a tragedy. Nothing will make this better."

The maximum youth sentence for manslaughter is three years. Defence lawyer Rod Gregory said his client is committed to engaging in rehabilitation and efforts to make amends for his actions.

The young man in this case, now 18, was 15 at the time of the assault. He read a statement in court Wednesday, apologizing to Sahota's family.

"I knew the victim. We didn't get along, but it never should have led to this," he said.