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This article was published 12/7/2011 (3367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg teen gang member has walked out of jail for a vicious attack that left his victim — an innocent stranger who had recently moved to Canada — permanently brain damaged.

The boy, who was 14 at the time of the February 2009 incident, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was given the maximum youth sentence of two years custody. However, he has already spent longer than that in pre-trial custody, meaning his court hearing on Tuesday marked the end of his stint behind bars and a chance at a fresh start.

The 19-year-old victim, Kawara Ojwato, immigrated with his family from Africa in 2006 with hopes of a higher education and a brighter future. Now he sits at home, requiring around-the-clock medical care for injuries which included missing part of his skull. He has limited movement of his limbs and is unable to feed himself, court was told.

Ojwato was parking his car outside an apartment on Sara Avenue in West Broadway just after 6 p.m. when he was attacked. The youth and several other young criminal associates of the B-side gang, were in the area at the time selling drugs, court was told. They were angry about members of the rival African Mafia gang moving in on their "turf" when they spotted Ojwato.

The group surrounded Ojwato and demanded to know who he was "down with." Several youths then began punching and kicking him to the ground. The youth, who was sentenced on Tuesday, admitted to sitting on Ojwato’s chest and repeatedly hitting him in the head with his fists. Ojwato tried to defend himself with a baseball bat he grabbed from his vehicle but was quickly overpowered.

Another youth accused previously pleaded guilty to his role in the attack and was given a four-year prison sentence as an adult. He was 17 at the time.

Family and friends told the Free Press that Ojwato was not part of the African Mafia, describing him as a drug-free, clean-cut young man with a "smile that would light up a room."