The lawyer for a drunk, unlicensed driver involved in a fatal crash in January wasn't surprised his client eventually took someone's life.
Kelly James Grainger, 42, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to impaired driving causing death as a result of an early morning, single-vehicle crash along Pacific Street on Jan. 26. The crash killed Lavinia Pearl Harrison, 51, a passenger in the stolen 2012 Ford Escape.
"[When I got the call from Grainger] I wasn't surprised someone had died," defence lawyer Keith Jones told the court. "It was pretty much inevitable."
Grainger has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 1987, including convictions for impaired driving and driving while prohibited. He has never been licensed to be behind the wheel and was under a probation order not to be in a motor vehicle without the registered owner at the time of the January crash.
According to the facts presented in court, Grainger had a blood alcohol level over the legal limit at the time of the crash and both open and unopened alcohol was found in the vehicle, which had been stolen earlier in January from Northern Health. Grainger was not accused of stealing the vehicle from the health authority, but was charged with being in possession of stolen property.
According to witnesses, the SUV was travelling at a high rate of speed prior to the crash and became airborne after hitting a snow bank before landing and rolling over. Firefighters were able to extract Grainger from the vehicle, but Harrison was pronounced dead at the scene. Her cause of death was later determined to be trauma to the chest.
According to a victim impact statement from Harrison's brother, their father was also killed by an impaired driver in 1972.
Crown prosecutor Anne Baines presented nine similar cases as part of her arguments where sentences ranged from 2 1/2 years to five years. She asked Judge John Milne to impose a sentence on the higher end of that range.
Jones agreed with the range of dates Baines provided and didn't offer any other precedents for consideration.
"It's hard to make this look any prettier than it is and it's not very pretty at all," Jones said.
However, Jones said his client was among the most remorseful he's ever seen, something Grainger repeated in a short statement to the court.
"I do have remorse for driving and I do take responsibility," Grainger said.
When Grainger was 27 he was the victim of an assault which left him with a brain injury. In a report to the court a forensic psychiatrist wrote that it caused a "cognitive disorder" which may have led to increased impulsiveness.
The psychiatrist also deemed Grainger was "at a high risk of committing further acts of violence."
In issuing his ruling, Milne said there was a "high degree of moral culpability" in the crime.
"A long sentence here is the only one that can be justified," Milne said. "A long period of isolation is required for public safety."
In addition to the 3 1/2 years of jail time, Grainger has been given a five-year driving prohibition and must submit a sample of his DNA to a databank.
Grainger was also sentenced Tuesday for an October incident where he ransacked the home of his former common law partner and stole a small amount of money. Milne imposed a pair of 30-day concurrent sentences for those crimes.
