OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court of Canada has ordered a new trial for Eric Deslauriers, a Surete du Quebec (SQ) provincial police officer who was convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of a teenager in Sainte-Adele, an hour north of Montreal.

Deslauriers was first found guilty in September 2017 for events that led to the death of the 17-year-old boy.

Police were pursuing the victim, who was driving a stolen car, to a parking lot. Deslauriers testified that he fired his weapon because he believed the young man was going to run into him with the vehicle.

Last March, the Quebec Court of Appeal quashed the guilty verdict and returned the case for a new trial.

The court found that the Superior Court judge had made errors and determined that the risk of judicial error in the case was very real.

This was not, however, a unanimous decision by the tribunal. The case, therefore, ended up before the Supreme Court of Canada.

The case was heard on Wednesday morning, and judges ruled against the Crown.

Deslauriers has therefore been granted a new trial.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2021.