Police recant in school bullying incident

KESWICK, Ontario, May 7 (UPI) -- A demonstration by 400 Canadian high school students led police north of Toronto to back off on an assault charge against a bullied youth who fought back.

A 15-year-old Korean immigrant youth was charged April 21 with assault causing bodily harm for breaking a fellow Grade 9 student's nose at Keswick High School, 30 miles north of Toronto.

The Korean youth had been pushed by a boy who used a racially derogatory term and then punched in the mouth when he struck back, the Globe and Mail reported. He was also suspended from school and told he faced expulsion.

Days after, almost all of the high school's students walked out of classes in protest. At a news conference Wednesday, York Region Police Chief Armand La Barge said the protest was the deciding factor in reviewing the charge.

He said the investigation "was not as detailed as it could have been, or as it should have been," and after 32 witnesses were interviewed, it was determined the assault charge shouldn't have been made.

It won't be known until the Korean boy's day in court May 13 if prosecutors will dismiss the charge, the report said.

Both boys returned to school this week after a reconciliation meeting.