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A 12-year-old Lethbridge, Alta., boy who tried to kill his seven-year-old brother by stabbing him was handed a three-year sentence on Wednesday, the maximum term allowed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The boy will serve what is known as an IRCS (intensive rehabilitative custody and supervision) sentence, which involves treatment.
An IRCS sentence is only available for youth who commit violent offences and who also have serious mental health diagnoses.
The first two years of the boy’s sentence will be served in secure custody where he will have access to programming and treatment for recently diagnosed mental health issues that have never been treated or addressed.
He will spend the third year under supervision in the community under conditions.
The identities of the brothers are protected by a publication ban issued under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
In December, the 12-year-old boy pleaded guilty to attempted murder for the attack on his brother in August 2025.
Boy ‘became enraged’
He admitted to stabbing his younger brother nine times while their father was out running an errand.
Justice Ryan Anderson heard that the older brother “became enraged” and “had an urge to cause his brother harm.”
When the father returned from the store, his older son was outside the house and told his dad that his little brother was dead.
The seven-year-old was airlifted to a hospital, where doctors determined that he’d suffered injuries to his face, hand, arm and back. Three of the wounds — to his brain, heart and chest — were considered major, life-threatening injuries.
‘Could not control’ urge
The 12-year-old told police that he’d gotten an “urge that he could not control related to voices he hears from time to time.”
Investigators discovered that before the stabbing, the boy had been researching murder on YouTube.
The court heard that the boy has been assessed by a forensic psychiatrist and has several recent diagnoses that, as the judge noted, “haven’t been dealt with.” It wasn’t disclosed in court what those diagnoses are.
Prosecutor Lauren Atkinson noted the 12-year-old has expressed remorse for his crime.
The IRCS treatment team will provide an update to the court on the boy’s progress after one year.
