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The B.C. Supreme Court has found the Nanaimo parents of a 14-year-old boy liable for more than $48,000 in damages caused by a school prank.

In a decision released Thursday, Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick said during lunch break on Jan. 17, 2012 in response to a dare, Carson Dean put a padlock on a sprinkler head in Wellington secondary school.

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That set off the firefighting system and the alarm causing extensive water damage.

Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District No. 68 sued parents, Cheryl and Kevin Dean, and won $48,630.47 plus interest and legal costs yet to be assessed for the two-day November trial on Vancouver Island.

“I am sure that this is a very unfortunate result for the Dean family and perhaps it will be for other families in the future,” Justice Fitzpatrick said.

“This was clearly the result of a young boy (now 17) misbehaving and thinking that the only grief to come of it would be to (his friend and the lock’s owner) Ben and perhaps the janitor in removing the padlock. Obviously, more dire consequences followed.”