A Prince George man has been sentenced to four years in prison for criminal negligence causing death after using his pickup truck to chase and run down another man.
Gordon Mayward Kerr was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday for the April, 2010, incident that killed Samuel Charles Auger. Crown counsel had called for a six-year jail term, while the defence was seeking two years behind bars, plus three years probation. A jury convicted Mr. Kerr of criminal negligence in June, but acquitted him of the more serious charge of manslaughter.
"Justice was not served today," said Samuel Auger's brother, Josh, as Mr. Auger's family gathered outside the courtroom to express disappointment at the length of the sentence. "It seems like another chapter in the ongoing battle of native against white."
The family has also filed a civil lawsuit against Mr. Kerr.
No one from Mr. Kerr's family wanted to speak publicly after the verdict, and several members were visibly upset as the sentence was read out. One man who was sitting with the Kerrs said "two families lost today."
The court heard how Mr. Kerr's truck was pelted with rocks thrown by Mr. Auger as Mr. Kerr drove a woman away from a Prince George convenience store early on the morning of April 28, 2010, following some sort of incident between the woman and the victim.
After dropping the woman off, Mr. Kerr drove back to the store and had another confrontation with Mr. Auger before using his pickup to chase and hit the 29-year-old. Mr. Kerr immediately left the scene, though he ultimately went to the police station to report the incident; Mr. Auger died nine days later from resulting head injuries.
Judge Silverman determined that Mr. Kerr didn't chase Mr. Auger with the intention of hitting him, but that, during the 150-metre pursuit, he exercised recklessness and wanton disregard for the young man's safety.
"Although you didn't intend to hit him or assault him, you did intend to chase him while you were driving your truck," Judge Silverman said.
In determining the sentence, the judge took into account that Mr. Kerr had no previous criminal record, that he was remorseful, that he had no racial bias towards Mr. Auger and his First Nations heritage, and that Mr. Kerr's original intent had been to help a woman.
"Regrettably he didn't have the wisdom or the self control to stay away," Judge Silverman said.
In addition to the four-year sentence, Mr. Kerr will also be barred from owning any weapons for 10 years and banned from driving for four years after his release.
The sentence and driving ban are considerably shorter than the terms sought by the Crown, which had argued for lengthy penalties because of the impact the crime had on the community, particularly among the First Nations population.