A former Prince George man was sentenced to another six years for killing one of his passengers, and severely injuring two others, in a 2018 car crash in the Okanagan.
Friday afternoon, 30-year-old Travis Ryan Hennessy was handed a six-year jail sentence for the horrific June 20, 2018 crash on Highway 33 near Rutland, that killed Lenard Haines, a father of four.
Sentencing judge Lisa Wyatt said Hennessy was driving more than twice the 50 km/h speed limit before the crash, while he was prohibited from driving, and he “showed absolutely no regard for the safety of his passengers and the public.”
Judge Wyatt said Hennessy's “moral blameworthiness” for the crash was high, and his sentence should be at the high end of the range of sentences for the dangerous driving causing death conviction and the two dangerous driving causing bodily harm convictions.
Hennessy was convicted of the three charges in January of this year, following three weeks of trial.
During trial, the court heard how Hennessy was driving Karla Mindel's car just after 3 a.m., with Mindel, Haines and Haines' brother Shane in the vehicle, when he turned west onto Highway 33 from Hollywood Road, without stopping at the red light. A police officer saw him, and turned on the cruiser's lights, but
Hennessy sped from the area, reaching speeds of 110 km/h and swerving into oncoming traffic.
He lost control of the car near Gerstmar Road and crashed into a cement wall and then a light pole. Mindel and the Haines brothers were ejected from the car, and Lenard's head hit a tree. He later died in hospital.
Shane Haines and Mindel suffered “catastrophic injuries” in the crash, with Shane fracturing his skull, but the pair survived.
During trial, Hennessy claimed he had not been behind the wheel when the crash occurred, but Judge Wyatt ruled he in fact had been.
During sentencing submissions in March, Crown prosecutor Jean-Benoit Deschamps argued Hennessy should be sentenced to six to seven years for the crash, citing his lengthy criminal record and other driving offences. Judge Wyatt ultimately agreed, handing down a six year sentence.
But Hennessy won't begin serving his six-year sentence until July, as he's currently serving a sentence for 14 other convictions, stemming from a number of incidents that occurred after the June 2018 crash.
Hennessy has struggled with methamphetamine addiction for much his life, and his defence lawyer Donna Turko said he's been clean since his incarceration in May 2019.
