The minute the victim's family were told the teen goons who split their aging dad's skull with a bat in a public washroom had been convicted of manslaughter, not second-degree murder, they figured the penalty would be a joke.

And they were right.

This week, B.C. Supreme Court Judge William Grist sentenced the 13-year-old, the younger of the two killers, to three years for Shingara Thandi's fatal beating, not because he believed it was all the hooligan deserved but because the architects of the nation's youth-crime law decided three years is as bad as it gets for teenagers convicted of manslaughter.

The teen has already spent about nine months in jail, so he'll serve 18 more in the Burnaby Youth Custody facility and then be released into the community under supervision.

But according to the attorney-general, Grist erred not in determining the correct sentence but in selecting the appropriate crime.

To establish murder, which carries a maximum seven years for youth, Crown had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the duo intended to cause Thandi bodily harm knowing it would likely cause his death, and were reckless whether he died or not.

Manslaughter, on the other hand, consists of killing someone unintentionally, not realizing that the bodily harm intended would or could result in the victim's death.

After hearing all the evidence late last year, Grist said it was clear the punks meant to do some serious damage, but given their immaturity and lack of life experience, it was doubtful they knew that repeated blows from their bats might kill the 76-year-old.

Thus the killing of Thandi was manslaughter.

Thankfully, Attorney-General Wally Oppal and his crew believe young people aren't that stupid.

In documents filed in the B.C. Court of Appeal, Crown argues teens are equipped with enough common sense to realize that bashing an old man with wooden and aluminum clubs could kill him.

Especially these two culprits, who had pulled a type of dress rehearsal the previous day at the same pavilion where elderly Indo-Canadian men gather: They beat up 83-year-old Mewa Bains in the same washroom at Surrey's Bear Creek Park, putting the pensioner in hospital with wounds to his head, eye and upper chest.

Evidence revealed they were anticipating a blood bath the second time around, because they rounded up heavier bats and a change of clothing before heading to the park to find Thandi.

Crown figured they were gearing up for a more vicious attack, one they would have known was likely to cause death. "We disagree with the judge's finding," Oppal said. "Surely these youths must have been able to see the natural consequences of their actions.

"To suggest otherwise is to ignore Parliament's decision to extend the reach of criminal liability for murder to young persons as defined in the Youth Criminal Justice Act."

If B.C.'s top court backs the A-G's position, and let's hope it does, the now-15-year-old will be back in court to be resentenced for the more serious crime. Last I heard, there's no date set for the appeal.