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This article was published 27/2/2019 (574 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — A 13-year-old boy with a lengthy criminal record has been handed a jail sentence after assaulting a Brandon group-home worker.

The teen, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty in provincial court Tuesday to assault with a weapon and failing to comply with court orders not to possess a weapon or be in the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle.

The teen has nine previous convictions for assault since turning 12, Crown attorney Grant Hughes told the court, and has a history of motor-vehicle thefts that aren’t on his record because he was too young to be prosecuted at the time.

The teen was also responsible for stealing a car and running a city transit bus off the road in downtown Brandon in 2017, causing an estimated $1 million to $2 million in structural damage.

"(He’s) having difficulties following court orders and he’s also having difficulties… with his assaultive behaviour, and the Crown is suggesting at this point the door to custody is open," Hughes said.

Employees at the teen’s group home called police Feb. 17, after a staff member was injured while trying to break up a fight between the teen and another youth.

The teen responded by punching the worker several times in the eye, nose and mouth, Hughes said.

Staff also found a black air pistol in the teen’s jacket pocket.

The teen left the home and returned with a snow shovel, Hughes said, and began swinging it at the staff before leaving the house again — this time attempting to get in the driver’s seat of a vehicle.

Staff were able to remove him from the vehicle and the teen ran from the scene, Hughes said.

The Crown asked the court to consider a one-month jail sentence, but defence lawyer Jennifer Janssens argued a stricter probation order or deferred custody would be the next appropriate step.

However, because the teen has received non-custodial sentences in the past, Judge Donovan Dvorak said a custodial sentence was "inescapable."

"It has to be a duration of sufficient length to denounce his behaviour and deter him from acting out," the judge said.

Considering time the teen has already spent in custody, Dvorak sentenced him to 20 days going forward.

— Brandon Sun