Youth crimes in Canada.

WINNIPEG ?- An attack that left a disabled teenager imprisoned in a burning shed and struggling to breathe has stirred up debate over whether the justice system should deal with children as young as eight.

Police believe several children, most between the ages of eight and 11, pushed 14-year-old Brian McKay into a wooden shed, jammed the door shut, and set the shed ablaze.

The attack Saturday left McKay, who has spina bifida and has difficulty walking, suffering from smoke inhalation. He was brought to hospital, but later released.

Most of the kids suspected of attacking McKay cannot be charged because they are under 12?-the minimum age under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

"That game progressed to the point that a group of them took an 11-year-old girl, were spraying her, and the top of the can came off or the can malfunctioned to the point that the bug spray poured over the girl. They lit it on fire and she suffered burns and was subsequently taken to the Health Sciences Centre."