Four of the teens told the truth. Four lied.

But because of "the golden thread that runs through our legal system" — the principle of reasonable doubt — the judge nevertheless found all eight not guilty of trashing the former Scott Park school and causing $1 million damage.

Justice John Takach was more than two hours into his oral judgment before he got to the "not guilty" point, and it seemed all but those final words were lost on the long row of restless youth who had been arrested inside the wrecked building in May 2011.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act prevents them from being identified

In the end, Takach said while he felt half the accused lied in their testimony, the Crown had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that they had caused the colossal damage inside the five-storey building. Since our justice system is predicated on the belief that "it is better for a guilty person to go free than for an innocent person to be found guilty," he had to find everyone not guilty.

The eight lawyers for the teens were crammed into the front of the courtroom while Takach said damage to Scott Park was so extensive he believed the vandalism had taken hours — maybe days — to afflict, yet the accused had not been inside the building long and its owner had not gone inside for eight days. None of the teens admitted to doing damage or seeing their co-accused cause damage.

Police at the scene failed to note if the youths they arrested were wet, cut, or had paint on them, Takach said.

Still, the eight shouldn't have even been inside the building, Takach said, placing some blame squarely on the shoulders of the parents in the courtroom, citing their lack of supervision.

The five boys and three girls were aged 14 to 16 when they were charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit an indictable offence, and breaking and entering while committing mischief.

Another boy arrested that night pleaded guilty to mischief under $5,000 while a girl pleaded to mischief over $5,000. Both testified against the other eight.

Evidence heard at trial was a confusing and often inconsistent account of what went on that night. Some of the teens appeared to hang out at a McDonald's before showing up at Scott Park on King Street East. But when they arrived, who they saw and what they did inside the building differs from version to version.

At the time, Scott Park (built in 1968 and closed in 2001) was operating as the National Art College of Canada.

A week before the arrests, developer Don Maga started the process of buying the building in hope of turning its 720-seat auditorium into a professional theatre. He had no insurance, his company refusing coverage because of asbestos.

Around 8:30 p.m., an anonymous passerby called 911 to report noises from inside the 175,000 square foot building. Police arrived within minutes and found a door pried open.

The Spectator previously reported fire hoses were turned on, causing a waterfall down the central staircase and through halls. Water fountains and lockers were smashed, elevators and escalators ruined. The front entrance ceiling collapsed from water damage. Walls were covered in graffiti, photocopy toner and paint spatter. Mirrors were smashed in the ballet studio. The library's books were dumped on the floor and shelves were broken. A huge window in the cafeteria was smashed as were those on classroom doors.

A message on a chalk board read: "F--- Sh-- Up."

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Basketball hoops were full of discharged fire extinguishers and the auditorium's orchestra pit was a pond.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board is considering expropriating Scott Park to tear it down and replace it with a new high school. It is expected to decide by the end of this month.