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(File photo/The Canadian Press) 

Saskatchewan court dismisses school shooter’s appeal of sentence

Oct 31, 2019 | 4:02 PM

Saskatchewan’s highest court has dismissed a sentencing appeal by a young man who fatally shot four people and wounded seven others in a northern community.

The shooter was weeks shy of turning 18 when he killed two brothers at their home and then a teacher and a teacher’s aide at the La Loche high school in 2016.

He was sentenced as an adult to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, second-degree murder and attempted murder.

The shooter was looking for a youth sentence.

In a 2-1 decision, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled that it could find no errors in the judge’s decision that a youth sentence was not sufficient to hold the shooter accountable.

One justice disagreed, saying he would allow the appeal, and give the shooter a 10-year sentence divided between six years in custody and four years in the community under supervision.