Young Dartmouth killer loses bid for name ban

A Nova Scotia man whokilled a taxi driver several months before his 18th birthday lost his bid Thursday to keep his name from being reported.

The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear the case.

Garman Davison Smith, now 20, was sentenced as an adult for stabbing Dartmouth taxi driver Kenneth James Purcell to death on Christmas Day 2005.

Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in May 2006 and was sentenced the next year to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years.

A publication ban was granted, but CBC, CTV and the Halifax Herald fought to have his name released, and won their case at the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

Smith then sought to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but the justices with the top court refused to hear the case. No reason was given for the decision, as is protocol.