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A Yellowknife court has thrown out an assault conviction against a former teacher because he was not properly informed of his Charter right to a French trial, despite being given the choice of either language early on.

A year ago, Hugues Latour, 40, was convicted of assaulting his then 17-year-old girlfriend, forcibly entering her apartment and breaching the conditions of his release. After first consenting to the trial moving forward in English, Mr. Latour, a Quebec man who moved to Inuvik in 2007, changed his choice of language partway through, court documents show.

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In a Court of Appeal last week, Justice Louise Charbonneau overturned the convictions, saying Mr. Latour should have been told at the very beginning of his trial that he had a right under Section 530 of the Criminal Code to apply for a trial in French.

“A new trial must be held and it is clear that process will stand in French,” Justice Charbonneau wrote in French. “There is currently no ambiguity in this respect. Latour said at his hearing that he would have asked that his trial be held in French if he had been informed of his right.”