Ontario, Canada — A TEEN criminal pleaded to the court to be sentenced to more than the six months so he could spend extra time with his cellmate — his stepfather.

The defence lawyer for Justin Beynen, 18, and an assistant Crown attorney were asking a Sudbury judge for a six-month term for a string of convictions. Beynen, however, wanted more time in jail so he could spend it with his cellmate and stepfather, Jason Hastings.

Beynen explained to Ontario Court Justice, Normand Glaude he has nowhere to stay when he gets out of jail until Hastings is released in October. Beynen hopes for a nine-month sentence so they could remain cellmates. Glaude said the courts are not a social agency, but sentenced the TEEN to the requested nine-month term after hearing the facts of the case.

Beynen pleaded guilty to two counts of breach of probation, dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, theft of a vehicle, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and driving without a licence.

Glaude decided to give Beynen nine months in jail, but did not promise that he would get out the same day as his stepfather. “I don’t want to be in longer than him,” Beynen said. The judge told him he should cut his losses.

TEENs assault teacher at school

St James, Jamaica — It is reported that on Thursday afternoon after dismissal at the Cambridge High School in St James, the school’s information technology teacher had a confrontation with a student in the school yard. Prior to this confrontation, the teacher was ganged by six boys, who repeatedly punched and kicked him.

The incident caused colleagues at the institution to stage a sit-in on Friday and forced Ministry of Education Ministry to intervene. No class was held at the school on Friday and the incident also left one member of the ancillary staff to become angry.

She stated that “The (students) need to be disciplined because they are fighting and cursing (their) teachers.” Another member of the staff is lamenting what she describes as an ongoing problem of indiscipline at the institution.

The school’s principal, who declined to comment on the issue is appealing for an active resource officer to be placed at the school to help with student behaviour.

Post-game prank

Kellogg, Idaho — An unnamed 17-year-old girl on a school bus returning home from a softball game claims that she was attacked by three teammates when she decided to take a nap. She girl says her teammates ripped off all her clothes, leaving her completely naked and forced to cover herself with a blanket.

Heidi Hershly, the girl’s mother, says it took the school three days to notify her of the incident which made her enraged. The attackers were booted from the softball team and barred from attending the prom, but Hershly says administrators are downplaying the incident.

She claims they’ve dismissed the attack as mere “horseplay”. Though the sheriff’s department recommended sexual battery charges, the prosecutor’s office has instead placed the girls in a juvenile diversion programme.

The move by the prosecutor made Hershly even enraged and she believes the attackers should be expelled and charged with sex crimes. She believes that since the attackers were girls, both the school and the prosecutor seem to be giving them a pass.

— Monique Clarke