ICBC is apologizing for suggesting that a West Shore RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett was negligent when she was struck and killed by a drunk driver who sped through a red light near Victoria in 2016.
The accused Kenneth Jacob Fentont, an 11-year veteran of the force, pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death — a blood sample drawn at Victoria General Hospital showed he was more than 3.5 times the legal limit — and dangerous driving causing death. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
Fenton told a parole board panel that driving drunk was the "most devastating decision" he has ever made and he understands it's unfair that he's still here while an "innocent mother" can't go home to her children.
Parole Board of Canada member Catherine Dawson told Fenton that he still struggles with being honest and she’s concerned that it took him so long to realize that he's an alcoholic.
Beckett, a 32-year-old mother of two boys, had recently returned from maternity leave when she was killed in the Victoria suburb of Langford in April 2016.
Fenton's trial heard that his truck was travelling at up to 90 kilometres an hour when it rammed Beckett's RCMP cruiser at an intersection.
The court heard that he was speeding away from another police cruiser that had just turned on its lights to pull him over seconds before the crash.