Youth who pleaded guilty in Halifax-area school stabbing to be sentenced Friday

A police officer is pictured outside Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford, N.S., following a weapons complaint on Monday, March 20, 2023. (Bruce Frisko/CTV Atlantic)

A youth charged with stabbing two staff members at a Bedford, N.S., high school in March 2023 will be sentenced Friday afternoon.

The accused is a 16-year-old Charles P. Allen student who was 15 at the time at the attack.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

He was initially charged with two counts of attempted murder, but pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault in March 2024.

Youth Crown Attorney Terry Nickerson is seeking an 18-month sentence in a youth correctional facility, followed by six months of probation with a list of restrictions.

2023 stabbing

Wayne Rodgers, the acting vice-principal at Charles P. Allen High School, was attacked the morning of March 20, 2023 and stabbed multiple times by the student, who was called into his office.

Witness accounts, which were confirmed in the agreed statements of facts, revealed that the student had been called into the office for disciplinary action related to hand-drawn posters the teen had hung around the school.

Police monitor the situation at Charles P. Allen High School in Halifax, Monday, March 20, 2023. (Source: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Riley Smith)

A knife was found on the student, and he was carrying other knives as well, when the attack happened and the vice-principal was stabbed several times.

An educational assistant, Angela Light, was also attacked and stabbed in the back when she tried to intervene.

Halifax Regional Police arrested the teenager at the school after he tried to harm himself with a knife.

Both Light and Rodgers say they have been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and require long-term health supports in dealing with their traumatic injuries.

Teen's identity protected

The identity of the youth is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Any testimony heard from medical professionals and psychologists that deal with the teen’s medical history is also protected under the publication ban imposed by Judge Elizabeth Buckle.

Buckle said the additional publication ban is to ensure that highly personal information doesn’t get out and possibly interfere with the youth’s rehabilitation.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.