A wait for psychiatric exams at the children's hospital in the Maritimes has forced a two-month delay in a high-profile Halifax assault case.
Three teenaged girls were scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for beating an elderly woman with metal table legs last summer in the Halifax Common.
But the IWK Health Centre in Halifax has not completed court-ordered psychological assessments of the girls, ages 15 and 16.
"They're simply not ready yet," Crown prosecutor Terry Nickerson told reporters outside youth court. "They work hard but as I understand it, they have a bit of a backlog due to resource problems."
A letter from the IWK introduced in court states the assessments will not be done before the end of the year.
The IWK conducts examinations for young people charged with serious crimes. Though the courts want the reports within 28 days, in some cases, the assessments are taking more than two months.
"We have a backlog of referrals and we also have a large number of referrals coming in at the current time, a lot of them very serious offences," said Ruth Carter, director of forensic services at the hospital.
Assessments of violent offenders are more complex, she added.
"We're seeing a lot more female violence we've never seen before. This is something that's really spreading across North America and Europe. The degree of young women being involved in violent crimes is really increasing and we don't have a good literature base on that to look at."
The IWK has hired two psychologists for the forensic unit and is trying to hire more, which Carter said should eliminate delays by the new year.
Hiring more psychologists was one of the recommendations from the Nunn Commission on youth crime last year. In his report, Justice Merlin Nunn said the time young people spend before the courts between the initial charge and the final verdict should be reduced.
The sentencing for the girls, who cannot be identified because of their ages, is rescheduled for January.
The assault happened on the night of Aug. 27 as a 65-year-old woman was walking through the central Halifax park. The attackers hit the woman repeatedly and only fled when a passerby ran over to help her.
The teens pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault and possession of a dangerous weapon.
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- Ruth Carter, the IWK's director of forensic services, blames too few specialists and too many youth accused of crimes. (Runs: 4:31)
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