OttawaA supervisor at a hedge-trimming company has been found not guilty of criminal negligence causing the death of a 20-year-old employee who was electrocuted in 2023 when his equipment touched a power line.Nick Chenier, 20, was electrocuted while trimming hedges in 2023Kristy Nease · CBC News · Posted: Nov 13, 2025 10:52 AM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Nick Chenier, 20, died after hitting a power line hidden in the hedge he was trimming. (Submitted by Jennifer Chenier)A supervisor at a hedge-trimming company has been found not guilty of criminal negligence causing the death of a 20-year-old employee who was electrocuted in 2023 when his equipment touched a power line.Nick Chenier was cutting the top of a six-metre hedge at a job site on Jean Park Road that May when his trimmer made contact with a 16,000-volt power line. The tool caught fire and Chenier fell. Bystanders and paramedics tried to save him, but he was pronounced dead about an hour later. The Ontario Court of Justice trial against Steven Deans, a longtime supervisor with Best Green Hedges, began in September.In November 2023, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development brought non-criminal charges against Best Green Hedges, company director Sheldon Bestgreen, and Deans. Chenier is pictured here with his mother Jennifer. (Submitted by Jennifer Chenier)The company’s director, Bestgreen, pleaded guilty last year to failing to ensure that the company took all reasonable steps to comply with Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act at the job site. Justice of the peace Jennifer Robinson accepted a joint proposal from the Crown and defence to fine him $45,000, plus a victim impact surcharge. The total penalty came to about $50,000. Charges of not taking all reasonable precautions to protect a worker, failing to warn a worker about hazards and failing to give information to a worker to protect their health and safety were withdrawn.With files from David Fraser and Guy Quenneville
Supervisor found not guilty in hedge-trimming death trial
