Toronto 18 ringleader apologizes at sentencing hearing

The ringleader of a deadly plot that was supposed to cripple the economy and unleash a high spread massacre in downtown Toronto says he is "regretful and sorry" and wants the opportunity "to pay the moral debt I owe." "I will turn myself around from a man of destruction to a man of construction," said Zakaria Amara, the leader of the Toronto 18 homegrown terror cell, in a court in Brampton during his sentencing hearing Thursday. The Crown is seeking a sentence of life in prison, while the defence is asking for a range of 18 to 20 years in the sentence. Amara addressed the court claiming he had been led "down the path of extremism" and "locked in an ideolgical position," which he now admits was very wrong. The 24-year-old Mississauga man said that after his arrest in the summer of 2006, he spent three years in isolation, during which time he continued to accept and promote extremist views because there was "no one to shed light on the blind spots."

I think that the only possible option is to give this horrible person a lifetime sentence. Someone would have done this much damage should not be given a second chance. Anyone in his situation would obviously be saying the same thing that he is, and the judicial system should not think twice about giving him what he deserves - a life sentence. I cannot imagine how much damage this person would have done, if his plan went through.