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The suffering inflicted on a 17-year-old girl who was attacked by a so-called friend at a Vernon house party last winter was exacerbated after a video of the fight was widely shared on social media.

On Feb. 12, the victim and the aggressor sat on opposite sides of the Vernon courtroom as Crown prosecutor Gabriel White played snippets of the two teenage girls fighting to the court.

The video showed the two girls, who were both 17 at the time, throwing punches before the victim ended up on the ground and was repeatedly kicked. Another third person joined in on the attack, while a bystander pulled out their phone and filmed it.

BC Provincial Court Judge George Leven described it as "very violent" and "vicious."

The Crown alleged the victim was jumped and attacked from behind, adding that the aggressor was wearing a ski mask.

Defence lawyer Laura McPheeters disagreed, saying it was February and it was cold, so the aggressor was wearing a hat but not covering her face with a ski mask. The lawyer also disagreed that the victim was attacked from behind, saying the aggressor was verbally confronting her before the fight started.

What the lawyers did agree on was that the attack being filmed and shared on social media caused significant harm.

"With the advent of social media, the harm that is caused to people when images like that are circulated, quite often far surpasses the physical effects of any altercation that had occurred," Judge Leven said.

The fight took place in February 2024 and it was a month afterwards that the victim went to the police. The aggressor was then charged with assault.

READ MORE: Kelowna teen convicted for swarming 12-year-old, pulling a knife

As both girls were minors, their names are protected by a court-ordered publication ban.

It's unclear what happened to the third person who joined in with the punches, and the person who filmed it did so by chance.

The court saw photos of the cuts and bruises left on the victim, but more weight was put on the psychological damage done by sharing the video.

The Crown said that the victim experienced a lot of anxiety afterward and was embarrassed and humiliated. The girl changed schools and her family moved to a different neighbourhood in Vernon.

"A lot of it goes to the circulation of the video... we do live in an information technology world where things going online can have serious consequences," White said.

"It takes it from a private event at a party to all of a sudden an undetermined amount of people can see this once it's made public, and especially among teenagers... who are very, very into social media, (and) things can spread rather quickly and create a lot of anxiety and that's exactly what it has done."

There was no definitive reason given for why the two 17-year-old girls began fighting, only that the aggressor was very uncomfortable with the way she was being treated by the victim.

The defence lawyer said her client took responsibility for her actions and provoked a confrontation by verbally confronting the victim. She also accepted it was "excessive and unnecessary" to repeatedly kick the victim once she was down.

The case didn't go to trial, and instead, the teen pleaded guilty to assault. Her lawyer said that in itself was an admission of remorse.

The judge didn't seem so sure.

"So I don't feel there's a clear expression of remorse," Leven said. "But a guilty plea is an expression of remorse. It's an acceptance of responsibility."

Crown argued for a sentence of 12 months probation and a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, citing a recent rise in teenage violence.

"It will reinforce her respect for societal values... and hopefully as an adult that respects the rule of law," White said.

Judging from her demeanour in the courtroom, the teen didn't seem scared or troubled by what was going on.

READ MORE: Mob mentality at work in teen swarming attack: Prof

She appeared relaxed and sat and whispered to her friend – as teenagers do – throughout the proceedings.

What was stark was the lack of any family member sitting with her.

Her lawyer said the teen had grown up in a family with a lack of support and stability. Her mom and stepfather had fought a lot, and she had often been the adult in the household.

"This was out of character for her, but it's indicative of the troubles that she was trying to deal with and hadn't been dealing with very well from her personal life and from her upbringing," her lawyer said.

The judge said it was noticeable that neither her school nor any psychologists had been able to contact her mother throughout the court proceedings.

The court heard how after the fight, the aggressor had managed to graduate high school, a feat that surprised the principal given her lack of family support.

She was now working and going to school and doing well. She hoped one day to become a nurse.

Ultimately, the judge sentenced the teen to one-year of probation with no curfew.

She's also prohibited from posting anything to social media about the fight or the victim.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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