A 16-year-old Edmonton youth has been sentenced to a year in jail for beating a group-home worker during a March break-in.

The young man, who can't be named because of his age, beat Faiza Elhassan "within inches of her life," Crown Ryan Persad said at the sentencing hearing in Edmonton Thursday. The youth had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in July.

The teenager broke into a group home on the city's north side on March 16 and demanded food and money. He was drunk, hungry and homeless. He'd run away from his foster home and was living on the streets.

Elhassan was punched and kicked relentlessly in the face and body, and said she still has has nightmares about the attack

But the youth is sorry, the judge was told. He had a troubled childhood, and was an addict at age nine.

He's frightened by his own behavior, and wants to ensure that he'll never be so hungry that he'll attack someone else to get food.

The beating was the teen's first offence.

He's spent five months in jail, and will spend another three months behind bars. That will be followed by four months of community supervision, and 16 months on probation.

With files from the CBC's Janice Johnston