Teen handed three-year sentence for attempted murder at Saskatoon’s Evan Hardy Collegiate

A 16-year-old girl was handed a three-year sentence on Monday for lighting a fellow student on fire at Saskatoon’s Evan Hardy Collegiate in 2024.

Last month, the Crown and defence jointly requested a three-year sentence for the attacker: two years in custody and one in the community with no credit for time already served, which would be the maximum sentence for attempted murder under Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act. That sentence was imposed on Monday.

Read more:

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• Changes in place at Saskatoon Public Schools one year after Evan Hardy attack
• Teen pleads guilty to setting fellow student on fire at Saskatoon high school

In December, the teen, who cannot be named due to provisions of Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act, also pleaded guilty to unlawfully causing bodily harm to a teacher who tried to help the victim during the attack.

During the sentencing hearing last month, the victim – who also cannot be named publicly – shared an impact statement with the court, describing the severity of her injuries from the attack and explaining how they have impacted her physically, mentally and emotionally. She told the court, in a statement read aloud by her parents, that the burns which covered about 40 per cent of her body have changed the way she looks and sounds.

The victim said she is more anxious in crowds, has dealt with extreme physical pain and has had to navigate moving to a new school.

At the time of the attack, the victim was 14 years old and the attacker was 15.

An agreed statement of facts read in court in December explained that the two girls had once been friends, but the victim ended the friendship after the attacker lit the roof of the school library on fire. The court also heard the victim was harassed obsessively after that relationship ended, with the victim’s parents even contacting the police at one point.

That statement of facts also noted that the attacker had a history of poor mental health before the incident and had been under constant supervision while attending the school after concerns were reported to the police.

Saskatoon Public Schools has shared various improvements the division has implemented since the attack in order to improve safety and mental health support for students.

Speaking after February’s sentencing hearing, the mother of the victim spoke of her daughter’s courage following the attack and voiced a hope for more peace for their family after the court process is behind them.

The mother also said more action by the school division and authorities should have been taken in the days and months after the attack in order to support their daughter.

–with files from 650 CKOM’s Mia Holowaychuk