A Canadian boy who robbed a convenience store for money for a plane ticket to Syria was sentenced Wednesday to two years detention plus 12 months’ probation for terrorism offenses.
The 16-year-old is already incarcerated for another related crime and will serve the sentence consecutively, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said.
He had become radicalized and stole Can$2,200 (U.S.$1,680) at knife-point from a Quebec store in order to pay for travel to Syria where he hoped to join the Islamic State group and take part in the conflict there.
His father alerted police and the boy, who was 15 years old at the time, was arrested before he could leave the country.
Under Canadian law, youths convicted of crimes cannot be publicly identified.
Local media citing expert court testimony said he has started to renounce radicalism.
Radicalization, a phenomenon which countries around the world have had to deal with, has not skipped over Canada.
As of December, more than 100 Canadians were known to have joined the ranks of the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria and Iraq, and six Canadians were believed to have died over the past two years fighting alongside extremists in Syria and Iraq.
One of them was Ottawa-born John Maguire, who converted to Islam and had called for lone wolf attacks in Canada.
At the end of March, 23-year-old Kevin Omar Mohamed was arrested under Canada’s anti-terrorism law. Mohamed’s lawyer said his client is suspected of planning to go overseas to pursue terrorism.