A Prince George man who struck and killed an elderly woman as she was crossing Winnipeg Street slightly more than two years ago was sentenced Thursday to 18 months probation.
During that time, Shaun Raymond Bockus, 36, will be allowed to drive only to and from work and during the course of his employment during working hours. He was also fined $1,700 plus a $255 victim surcharge.
Crown prosecution had been seeking a complete prohibition against driving for 18 months but provincial court judge Randall Callan found going that far would have punished his family as well. Bockus lives in at the Hart and faces a half-hour commute to work, the court was told.
Bockus had pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention under the Motor Vehicle Act in the death of Evagelia Litsa Kokkonis, 79, during the evening of Dec. 16, 2014.
Kokkonis was crossing Winnipeg at 10th Avenue. She wearing dark clothing, was not using a formal crosswalk and was making her way across just before 5 p.m., when it was dark out and during rush hour.
However, the court also heard the scene was lit by a street lamp. Although damp, the road was not slippery and Kikkonis was actually most of the way across after southbound traffic had stopped for her.
Bockus, who was driving a Ford 150 pickup truck, told police he had just picked up his then 10-month-old daughter from daycare at the YMCA. Just as he reached the intersection, Bockus heard her choking on a piece of banana as she sat in the rear passenger side and he looked back.
When he turned his head back around, Bockus saw Kokkonis right in front of him and did not have time to stop. She was struck by the truck's centre-front and was pronounced dead shortly after she was taken to hospital.
Bockus cooperated with police, waiving his right to get a lawyer first, did not appear to have been speeding and showed no signs of impairment.
However, he also had a lengthy list of previous driving offences that included about 20 speeding tickets, five 24-hour roadside prohibitions and one 90-day prohibition although the trouble appeared to have ceased by the time his daughter was born. Photographs from the scene also showed the interior of his truck in a "chaotic" state, suggesting "habits die hard."
More than 20 victim impact statements from Kokkonis' family and friends were submitted and a handful were read into the record during the near day-long hearing. They showed a woman who has been deeply missed and valued.
An avid walker, she was returning home from her daughter's where they had been baking treats for Christmas, Kokkonis' favourite time of year. The holiday season will never be the same again for the family, the court heard.
Given the chance to speak, Bockus turned directly to the dozen or so friends and family of Kokkonis who attended the hearing to apologize. "I'm sorry, really am. I too won't forget this," Bockus said.
Callan was also tearful and fought back sobs when he began to issue his decision. He said it was very apparent that Kokkonis was the "centre of gravity for her family, her community and her neighbourhood."
Bockus was not charged under the Criminal Code because he did not display the degree of recklessness or intentional harm to meet that level. Consequently, the negligence of Bockus' conduct, not the harm it caused, had to be the focus, the court was told.
It was one of three motor vehicle incidents that led to the deaths of pedestrians in 2014.
A trial is set for February 2017 for Robert Vernon Johnson of Trail in the Oct. 9, 2014 deaths of Patricia Sims-McLelan, 50, and David Sakawsky, 49. They were crossing Nicholson Street just before 7 a.m. when they were hit by a tractor-trailer making a left-hand turn from 22nd Street.
In October, Nadia Pierrette Marie Brownson was fined $1,600 after pleading guilty to excessive speeding relative to conditions under the Motor Vehicle Act in the death of Scotty Bryan, 36, of Vanderhoof on Oct. 5, 2014 as he and a friend were crossing an unlit section of First Avenue to reach the Alibi's night club.
