Teen Apologises for Attacking Elderly Indo-Canadian Sikh

June 14, 2007

Author: Staff Writer

Source: NewKerala.com

http://www.newkerala.com/news5.php?action=fullnews&id=38807

Toronto, June 14: A teenaged boy has apologised for viciously beating up an elderly Indo-Canadian Sikh in a park in British Columbia two years ago. The victim died a month after being attacked.

"I am really ashamed of myself. I have no excuses and I should be punished. I can't say enough. I'm sorry," said the boy who can't be named under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The accused apologised during his hearing in the British Columbia Supreme Court Wednesday. He had attacked Mewa Singh Bains, 83, with a baseball bat in a park washroom in Surrey (British Columbia) in 2005.

However, a spokeswoman for the victim's families said the apology was not acceptable as the boy could have said so at the beginning of the trial, CBC News reported.

The prosecution wants the teenager [to] be given a sentence of six to nine years. The defence is asking for four years, minus the 23 months the youth has already spent in jail.