Police found negligent in investigation of death of teenaged hockey player
Police officers in York, Ontario have been found negligent for failing to properly investigate the death of teen hockey player Ben Teague back in 2019
Back in September of 2019, 17-year-old hockey player Ben Teague joined 13 of his teammates with the Oakville Rangers Midget Double-A hockey team for a weekend team-building exercise at a nearby YMCA centre. The weekend sadly ended in Teague's death. Now, police officers in York, Ontario have been found negligent in the ensuing investigation of the incident.
Teague's parents launched a lawsuit against the Rangers, the team's coaches, the Ontario Minor Hockey Association, and the YMCA camp in 2022. That lawsuit is still awaiting a trial date. In 2023, the parents filed a complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director claiming York police failed to properly investigate the death. While the review by OIPRD was completed in October, 2023, its details are just being made public now. The OIPRD says four York Regional Police officers were negligent in their duties as they didn't isolate or even interview witnesses.
Teague and some of his teammates, all between the ages of 16 and 17, were drinking the night in question. In the early morning hours of the next day, Teague told his coaches he had consumed alcohol, and was experiencing excruciating leg pain.
...the cause of Ben's death was determined as acute myocardial injury with necrosis associated with recent alcohol consumption."
The coaches involved have argued that the Oakville Rangers and the league have a strict zero-tolerance policy for alcohol, and that all players, including Teague, were made aware of this. The response to the lawsuit also claims the coaches "provided reasonable and appropriate supervision to the players, taking into consideration the age and experience of the players."
As for the four officers found negligent in investigating the death, detective sergeants Heather Bentham and Kenneth Golding, Det. John Loughry, and Sgt. Robert Worthman, Rick Westhead of TSN/CTV says it's not clear whether any of them have been disciplined, or whether it would be made public if they were. A third-party independent investigation into the incident and the coaches is also being done on behalf of Hockey Canada.
Source: CTV News
York Regional Police officers found negligent in investigation of Ont. teen hockey player's death
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