22 Feb Is any social purpose served here? – updated

[See update below.] Maybe there are facts i’m unaware of, but barring something that diverges sharply from initial accounts, laying criminal charges against the boy whose horseplay led to the death of his friend and fellow student at Sydney Academy last week, seems harsh and inappropriate.

Condolences, of course, to the family and friends of Christopher Walter Chafe. The loss of any child is a horrible thing. For the loss to occur so suddenly and randomly, at 18 years of age, is an awful thing to bear.

But if this terrible event resulted from friendly rough-housing gone horribly awry, charges are unwarranted and cruel. As the Cape Breton Post pointed out:

At the time of the accident, witnesses and police said Chafe and others were “playing around” when the incident occurred.

This is no time for technicalities, or a vengefully literal-minded reading of the criminal code.  The police owe the public, the court, and the defendant a fuller account than they have so far provided.

[UPDATE] A reader who says she knows both families urges me to wait until I know all the facts before forming an opinion. tim Bousquet of the Halifax Examiner suggests that the information laid in connection with the charge “should come with some “all the reporting on this was done via the police press release and no one actually went down to the courthouse to read the charge.” That will be Job 1 for the Cape Breton Post, the Chronicle-Herald, and the CBC Monday morning.

Bill T. writes:

This is a serious matter for the community and deserves better than a striptease act from the police. There is no reason why they can’t explain their reason for laying the charge.