Justin Christen Bourque has been sentenced to five years in prison for stabbing a fellow inmate at a maximum-security prison near Miramichi three years ago. A provincial court judge found Bourque guilty of aggravated assault and weapon possession in connection with the incident at the Atlantic Institution in March 2022.
Bourque, already serving life sentences for the 2014 murders of three RCMP officers in Moncton, appeared via video for the sentencing in Miramichi court. However, the proceedings were moved to the morning, catching reporters off guard.
Court documents reveal that Judge Johanne-Marguerite Landry sentenced Bourque to five years for both charges, to run concurrently with his existing life sentences. He is prohibited from possessing weapons for life and must provide a DNA sample, with a waived victim fine surcharge.
Bourque and another inmate, Christian Enang Clyke, were charged and subsequently convicted for the stabbing of fellow inmate Chase Spence. Surveillance footage shown during the trial captured the events, showing Spence entering the same unit as Bourque and Clyke, leading to a confrontation and eventual stabbing.
Despite medical records confirming Spence’s injuries, he did not testify during the trial. Bourque chose not to present a defense and refrained from testifying. Clyke, awaiting sentencing in a separate case, is serving a life sentence for a murder in Nova Scotia and was found guilty of second-degree murder in a previous incident at the Atlantic Institution.
The sentencing hearing, originally set for the afternoon, was rescheduled to the morning. This case sheds light on the ongoing challenges within the prison system, emphasizing the importance of maintaining safety and security for all inmates and staff.
