Toronto Jailbirds...

Two sisters in Mississauga, Ont., who were
convicted of killing their mother in a bathtub
in 2003 have been sentenced as youths, and
given the maximum penalty.
Justice Bruce Duncan sentenced both to 10
years in prison.
The two, now 19 and 20 years old, will serve
six years in secure custody and four years
under conditional supervision, with 18 months
subtracted for time spent in prison.
The older sister will serve her sentence in an
adult facility.
The decision was announced late Friday
afternoon at a court in Brampton, Ont.
Their names can't be released because they
were 15 and 16 at the time of the crime, and
subject to terms of the Youth Criminal Justice
Act.
In convicting the sisters last December of
first-degree murder, the judge found the girls
plied their mother with Tylenol-3 pills and
alcohol on Jan. 18, 2003, before one girl
held the mother's head underwater until she
drowned.
A psychiatric assessment released Thursday
recommended the girls be sentenced as
youths, citing concerns that the two would do
poorly in an adult prison.
Dr. Phil Klassen told a sentencing hearing
that the sisters had no history of violence or
criminal behaviour before killing their mother.
Initially, the death of the 44-year-old mother
was ruled accidental, but police reopened the
case a year later when a friend of the sister
contacted them with new information.