Family angry with sentence given to woman, 65, charged in brutal assault of teen

One of five people charged in connection with a prolonged and brutal assault on a 17-year-oldgirl has been sentenced for her role in the attack,but the victim'sfamily is very unhappy with the outcome.

Jacqueline Elizabeth Angell, 65, pleaded guilty to a single charge of assault with a weapon in Nova Scotia provincial court in Yarmouth on Tuesday. She received a sentence of six months house arrest, followed by six months under curfew.

"This wasn't even a slap on the wrist, it was a tap on the hand," the victim's grandmother said Thursday.

CBC News is not identifying the victim or her family.

The victim wasn't in court for the sentencing, but wasn't happy when she learned about the sentence, according to her grandmother.

The grandmother told CBC News the victim said, "I could steal five chocolate bars from the dollar store and go to jail and I feel like nobody cares about me because this is all she got."

What RCMP say happened

RCMP have allegedthe girl was picked up by a woman she knew in a car on Cliff Street in Yarmouth on Jan. 4.

There were a number of people in the car that the girl didn't know. Three of the other accused are 19. The fifth is a youth.

The girl was accused of stealing, and shortly afterwards she was punched in the head.

The attack continued as the car drove around the Yarmouth area and made stops. One of those stops was at Angell's home, where she joined inthe assault.

The grandmother said three different prosecutors have handled this case and one of them told the family that they would try for a conditional sentence in the range of two years.

'Just sat there and bawled'

She said they weren't told about the sentencing agreement until just before court.

"Me and my daughter [the victim's mother] just sat there and bawled," she said in an interview.

"I shook for hours... like I said, the punishment does not suit the crime."

Court process for 4 remaining accused

One of the four other suspects is in jail and faces a bail hearing next month. The other two adults also face a preliminary inquiry on the charges in July. It's not clear where things stand for theteen accused in the case.

As for the victim, her grandmother said she's "coping."

"She struggles daily," she said. "She has nightmares. She's very untrustworthy of getting into a vehicle with people. And these scars are going to last forever."