VICTORIA — A B.C. judge has reinforced an earlier decision that an eight-year-old Terrace child was not old enough to be home alone.

A B.C. provincial court judge upheld Thursday his earlier order putting the child under Ministry of Children and Family Development supervision and barring the child from being left alone at home after school.

The case sparked a nationwide debate over the age at which it is appropriate to leave a child unsupervised. B.C. government social workers testified before the judge that a child under 10 lacks the cognitive ability to stay safe while alone.

Thursday’s ruling did not set a larger precedent, because the judge confined his ruling to the maturity of the specific child and not the larger policies of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, said lawyer Wade MacGregor.

“The judge did manage to avoid ruling on the validity of the (ministry) policy that no child under 10 can be left alone,” said MacGregor.

Children’s Minister Stephanie Cadieux stated in public that there was no policy in her ministry that forbade children under the age of 10 from being home unsupervised, and that social workers make decisions on a case-by-case basis depending on the child’s maturity, length of time left alone, safety measures in place and the child’s ability to contact an adult in an emergency.

But in court, social workers appeared to argue there was indeed a policy that applied to kids 10 years and younger, said MacGregor. “The social workers don’t agree with the minister,” he said.

Other factors in the judge’s decision included the mother’s hostile relationship with the child’s father, who opposed leaving the child home unsupervised, said MacGregor. As well, there was third-hand evidence about a social worker who interviewed the child and formed the opinion the child wasn’t mature enough to be left alone, said MacGregor.

The child turned nine in August and would be 10 the time any further appeal by the mother could be heard by the courts, and so there is little for the mother to gain by continuing her court battle, said MacGregor.

rshaw@vancouversun.com