/yThey stood in a row, looking boyish and slightly nervous.
Clad in prison-issue orange jumpsuits, four teenagers arrested in connection with a series of violent carjackings across the city made a brief court appearance yesterday in youth court. They were remanded in custody until their next court date tomorrow.
While they were facing a judge, Toronto police were telling a news conference that they will ask Crown prosecutors to apply to have the youths, who are 16 and 17, transferred to adult court where the penalties are more severe.
People convicted of crimes such as robbery and kidnapping under the Young Offenders Act face a maximum of three years, Staff Inspector Steve Harris said.
"We talk about kids; we talk about youthful offenders: They're criminals. They committed violent acts; they put guns to people's heads; they terrorized these people," he said, referring to the victims' accounts of the crimes.
Although four youths appeared in court yesterday, police have charged five people with the carjackings. The other accused was already in police custody on an unrelated matter.
The teenagers face a total of 35 charges, including robbery, assault, possession of dangerous weapons and kidnapping.
Because of their age, police cannot reveal their names or other personal information except that they are all from Toronto. That would change if they are tried as adults.
Detective Sergeant John Brown of the holdup squad said the Crown has to consider the teenagers' backgrounds, particularly if they have been in trouble with the law before, as well as society's needs in assessing whether to apply to move them to adult court.
One reason they should be tried as adults, police say, is the violent nature of the attacks on the eight drivers of the vehicles carjacked: a 17-year-old driver was tied up and locked in the trunk of his car for hours; two women were stripped naked before being locked in a portable toilet; a woman was struck on the head with a hammer; and a man's eyes and nose were covered with duct tape. They were all tied and some were threatened.
The six stolen vehicles have been recovered. Police said only one was slightly damaged.
Police also recovered a substantial amount of the jewellery and cash taken from the victims and from their bank accounts. Police say they now believe that the purpose of the carjackings was to obtain the debit cards and personal identification numbers of the owners.
A break in the case came Monday night when police stopped a vehicle that was travelling without working headlights. It turned out to be one of the stolen cars.