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economists sufrastoufivihe tribune thursday jidy 8-199- 21 courts police seek adult sentences for teenagers charged in savage beating that left 15yedrold in a coma age of reasoning when young people commit violent crimes parents take part of the blame by jennifer brown staff writer the three teens charged with attempted murder in the savage beating of jonathan wamback may be tried as adults york region police officers were to meet with the newmarket crown attorney yes terday to discuss the possibility of transferring the two 17yearolds and one 16yearold to adult court a provision outlined in the young offenders act it is probably their intention to have them tried as adults but i cant speak for the crown at this time said det sgt chris barratt during a news conference tuesday and proposed changes to the young offenders act could mean the names ofwambacks attack ers may be made public upon conviction parliament is to give second reading this fall to changes to the act including allowing the pub lishing of names of 14- to 17- yearolds who have been convict ed of serious crimes and forcing parents to bear young offenders legal costs if they are able to pay we have to send a message to these characters we have to send a strong message that this wont be tolerated in civilized society the legislative changes have received first reading and it is expected second reading will come when parliament resumes in the fall oak ridges mp bryon wilfert said in violent cases such as this young offenders should be prose cuted to the full extent of the law personally im the kind of guy who would throw the book at these characters wilfert said we have to send a message to these characters we have to send a strong message that this wont kk mm m to rbi fir m m top the washroom in the newmarket park where jonathdn wamback was confronted by a gang of youths above graffiti referring to the templar knights that appears in a park restroom be tolerated fii civilized society the maximum a youth can receive on an attempted murder charge is three years plus two years probation the maximum adult sentence is 25 years wilfert said the changes are necessary to strengthen the law for all concerned i want to make sure that when law enforcement officers lay a charge they have knowl edge they are not just going through the motions he said wamback 15 was in ken sturgeon park in newmarkets stonehaven subdivision between 630 and 830 pm june 29 when three youths confronted him near the public washrooms the three teens believed wamback was tagging the park restroom walls painting gang graffiti there barratt said after a loud argu ment between the teens there was a fight and wamback fled on foot taking an indirect path toward his home nearby his attackers got into a grey toyota camry operated by a fourth youth and went looking forwamback they found him between two houses near the park area and severely beat him about his head police said wamback was able to get home where he collapsed into unconsciousness he was taken to york county hospital and later transferred to the hospital for sick children in toronto where he remains comatose on life support wamback suffered brain dam age and has had at least two surg eries since being admitted to hos pital barratt said the family is strug gling with the possibility he will never fully recover this is totally new to us it was a very violent shocking attack i spoke with his father today and he is extremely upset the prognosis for jonathan is not good the family knows they will not get back the same son they had the teens who have been charged with attempted murder reportedly belong to a group called sha meaning stonehaven avenue they apparently believed wamback was a member of a rival group which is referred to as tk or templar knights a name that appears on the walls of pub lic washrooms in stonehaven parkettes they believe he was with templar knights but we havent established that yet barratt said police believe teens in newmarket are emulating gang like behaviour but indicate this was the first reported incident that has escalated to violence they havent had much con tact with police barratt said this is totally new to us it was a very violent shocking attack the teens were to appear in newmarket court for a bail hear ing today the driver of the car has not been arrested and report edly did not witness the beating riddled with graffiti while the washrooms at ken sturgeon park and rene bray another park within stonehaven have been riddled with graffiti and repeatedly vandalized barratt said police were not aware a gang problem existed sometimes we rely on the public to bring it to our atten tion he said but by the virtue of this inves tigation i think you will see these two youth groups disappear parents are now aware and they know we are aware he pointed out that the par ents of teens involved now have the full picture saying that in retrospect they must have heard about the attack through contact with their own children i think the families are going to pull in the reins a little now he said as adult members of this com munity barratt said parents have a moral and civic responsibility to bring whatever information they may have to the attention of authorities wilfert also emphasized the role of parents where are the parents whats happening in the home and in this school system we cant be afraid to have rules and we dont have them anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 905 8811221 ext 7140 or relay infor mation confidentially by contact ing crimestoppers at 222ttps start using your eyes and ears by jennifer brown staff writer affluent or underprivileged neigh bourhoods rocked by vandalism and vio lence need to take ownership of their com munities or risk losing them to crime its simple but sage advice that comes from the voice of experience a vaughan councillor who has confronted the same problems facing the residents of newmarket shocked by the vicious gang like beating of a teen from stonehaven vandalism and violence knows no borders and is not dependent on family income the root cause is boredom and it can exist if the neighbourhood is rich or poor said bernie divona added security measures at a woodbridge park have curbed vandalism said divona who spearheaded a cam paign last year to take back parks that were being overrun by unruly teens last spring after facing park repair bills of 2800 monthly for close to 18 months the city of vaughan approved a volunteer yellow jacket parks patrol program a cur few and the installation of video cameras in robert watson park the park had been marked as the turf for a group known as the russet way gang named for one of the streets backing on to the park the yellow jackets were residents who armed with cell phones supplied by bell mobility were trained to become the eyes and ears of the park during the day while at first the volunteers had con cerns about being targeted by those they were reporting divona said they were trained to be nonconfrontational a secu rity firm was also hired to patrol at night and now the young people who were damaging robert watson park have moved on divona said and residents have a new sense of ownership over the park failing to inform- police of a problem will only makes things worse in the stonehaven case police said they had no idea trouble was brewing by not reporting an incident an increased undercurrent of violence and vandalism develops the victim and the family knows when something happens but if they dont report it you cant improve the situation but divona said a key factor is parents knowing what their children are up to temporary road closure vivian road yr 74 town of whitchurchstouffville vivian rd yr 74 immediately west of kennedy rd yr 3 will be closed to through traffic from july 12 1999 to august 13 1999 for the purpose of culvert replacement bylaw no r11781999036 please directenquiries to the regional municipality of york 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