Toronto teacher found not guilty in student’s drowning

UPDATE

A Toronto teacher has been found not guilty in the drowning of a 15-year-old student during a field trip more than four years ago.

Nicholas Mills was charged with criminal negligence in the death of Jeremiah Perry.

Perry drowned during a school trip in July 2017.

Mills, a teacher at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, oversaw the canoe trip at Algonquin Provincial Park during which Perry died.

Prosecutors argued Mills ignored safety rules in planning and carrying out the multi-day excursion, and allowed Perry — who they say could not swim — to go in the water without a life-jacket.

Defence lawyers said the Crown has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Perry couldn’t swim, which they said is necessary to establish negligence.

On Wednesday, an Ontario judge found Mills not guilty and said that while Mills’s actions fell below the reasonable standard of care, they did not reach the level of criminal negligence.