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 Wladyslaw Bilski is transported from the Chatham Jail to the courthouse for his sentencing hearing in Chatham, Ont., on Monday, Aug. 31 2009 on four counts of impaired driving causing death. (Sun Media/Diana Martin) |
CHATHAM -- Wladyslaw Bilski will spend one year behind bars for each of the lives he ended when he got behind the wheel and drove drunk.
The 49-year-old Chatham man was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison for impaired driving causing the deaths of Marion Dawson, Verna Neaves, Bernice Phillips and Jean Ripley.
"I've got an empty feeling right now," said Phillips' son Wayne Phillips outside court. "It's a year for each of the ladies. It should be more."
Neaves' granddaughter, Jean Van Veen, also was upset by Bilski's sentence.
"The number four is kind of ironic, one year per life. It doesn't seem like enough," she said in a voice thick with emotion. "To think my grandma's life was worth one year kind of hurts."
The four elderly women, known as the Pie Ladies, were headed home from a church supper when Bilski slammed into them on Keil Dr. in Chatham on Nov. 24, 2007.
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Minutes before the crash, the same stretch of road had been travelled by a Mother's Against Drunk Driving float carrying people touched by drunk driving to the Santa Claus parade.
When Bilski sped down the road he had more than three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.
Superior Court Justice Robert Abbey said the alcohol level was an aggravating factor in sentencing.
During the first part of the sentencing hearing in early August, the families of the women expressed their frustrations about Bilski's perceived lack of remorse throughout the trial.
Yesterday, for the first time, they heard him apologize.
"I stand before you with much grief and sorrow. Not for myself, but for the beautiful women whose lives were cut short by my carelessness," he said through a letter read by defence lawyer Ken Marley.
In Bilski's only show of emotion throughout the hearing, and the trial, he wept as Marley read his words.
"It pains me deeply to look into the eyes of the loved ones, and see not only the anguish and despair at their immense loss but also the anger and bitterness they hold against me."
Bilski said they have a right to their feelings but asked for their forgiveness.
When asked by Abbey if he had anything to say, Bilski again said sorry. "I hope God forgives me for everything," he said in a barely audible voice.
Both Phillips and Van Veen said the sentencing range for impaired driving causing death is too light and doesn't reflect the tragedy left in the wake of the crime.
Crown attorney Paul Bailey agreed, noting while Abbey made a well-reasoned decision, the sentence wasn't long enough.
"I feel the sentence is inadequate and that the law that Justice Abbey is obliged to follow needs to be changed by the Court of Appeal," he said.
He said the Court of Appeal needs to promote a stiffer range of sentencing to stop people from drinking and driving -- a crime he said is still happening too frequently.
Heather Bakker, co-president of the local chapter of MADD, said the sentence is lower than the organization was hoping for.
Bailey was seeking a seven-year jail term and Marley asked Abbey to consider a sentence in the range of 21 months to five years.
Marley said the last 12 days have been especially hard on Bilski, who was arrested on allegations of breaching his bail conditions by drinking.
Abbey said a positive pre-sentence report indicated Bilski is a hard-working family man who doesn't usually drink to excess. The judge accepted that as evidence when considering the sentence.
However, there was a portion of the report Abbey found troubling.
"He considers the crash as an accident," the judge said of Bilski's comments in the report.
He said while Bilski didn't intend the deaths, he caused them by driving while impaired. "The offender made a choice to consume alcohol that afternoon and he made a choice to drive," Abbey said. "Those choices were not by accident."
Abbey banned Bilski from driving for 10 years.