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A B.C. Provincial Court Judge told a Merritt teen that she's lucky she was not charged for murder after she kicked another girl in the head while drunk at a party.

According to a recently published June 22 B.C. Provincial Court decision, the unnamed 17-year-old girl kicked the victim in the head twice while she was laying on the ground after being attacked by two other people.

"You chose to attack the victim at a point when she was already vulnerable, when she was already on the ground, and when she had already been kicked in the ribs by your co-accused," B.C. Provincial Judge Lorianna Bennett said in the decision. "Teen violence is a top-of-line concern for people in our province and across our nation. Victimized youth have died from these very types of events. Your (lawyer) correctly pointed out to you how easily these charges can end up as murder charges. You were very lucky."

The decision says that the 17-year-old was with around 30 to 40 other teenagers at a party when the fight occurred in September 2021.

It started with a verbal altercation between a different youth and the victim who both ended up on the ground fighting.

"When that altercation concluded the victim got up to walk away. As she did so she was tackled by the other co-accused," the judge said.

The co-accused jumped on top of the victim and punched her several times.

The 17-year-old girl was walking around and approached the fight.

"(She) kicked the victim twice while she was on the ground. Both kicks were to the head and the second kick caused the victim to lose consciousness," the judge said.

The victim was taken to hospital and sustained a potential concussion.

The court document says that of the three accused in the attack, the 17-year-old's conduct is the most aggravating.

One other unnamed co-accused was given a conditional discharge for their part in the fight, but Judge Bennett said a conditional discharge was too lenient a sentence for the 17-year-old.

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In an earlier court appearance, the 17-year-old had told the judge the attack wasn't "the smartest of ideas" but she had come a long way since then and she was apologetic.

The judge said her comment was an understatement.

"This attack was beyond a bad idea," the judge said. "(The victim) was at a disadvantage. There was no suggestion raised that you acted in self-defence. In your poor judgment, you chose to be a follower when you had the opportunity to intervene and stop the violence... you had the opportunity to be a leader and to set an example and, at worst, you could have done nothing. Instead, you submitted the victim to a level of violence that exceeded anything else that had yet to occur that night."

The court document says the girl has had drug issues in the past but said she got clean prior to the fight.

According to the decision, the now 18-year-old has a three-year-old daughter and is pregnant with another child.

The judge said the teen needed to be serious about her role as a parent.

"I am told she has done a wonderful job as a mother, and that she is showing a level of maturity that she ought to be commended for. That may be the case now, but her actions on September 4, 2021 (the night of the attack) convince me otherwise," the judge said.

Judge Bennett said that while the difference between a conditional discharge and the sentence to be imposed was "marginal" it would be incorrect not be impose a criminal record.

The 17-year-old was sentenced to one year of probation including a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for the first three months. She was also placed on multiple other conditions.

As the conviction falls under the Youth Criminal Justice Act the 17-year-old's criminal record will be wiped three years after her sentence is completed – provided she isn't charged with another offence.

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