Man jailed for fatal crash
Judge's decision comes quickly after long wait for families
Sarah Ladik
Northern News Services
Thursday, September 1, 2016
INUVIK
An impaired driver who crashed a truck in a horrific accident in 2014, killing one passenger and injuring three others, has been sentenced to three-and-half years in prison.
Ricky Don Kayotuk, 35, was sentenced to three and half years in prison in NWT Supreme Court in Inuvik Aug. 30 for impaired driving convictions related to the death of Sasha Larocque-Firth, who was killed in a July 2014 single-vehicle accident. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo
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Ricky Don Kayotuk, 35, of Inuvik was sentenced for impaired driving causing death following a sentencing hearing in NWT Supreme Court Aug. 30 after earlier pleading guilty. He was also sentenced to two years for each of three counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm and one charge of dangerous operation of a vehicle, to be served concurrently.
Sasha Larocque-Firth, 24, was ejected from the vehicle and fatally injured. Three other people were injured, including a woman who had to be medevaced to Edmonton with multiple broken bones and a brain injury.
The judge gave Kayotuk credit for 285 days time served, at a rate of 1.5 days, leaving a little more than 990 days remaining to be served.
Justice Andrew Mahar also imposed a seven-year driving prohibition which will begin when Kayotuk is released from prison. Whether he is incarcerated in Edmonton or at North Slave Correctional Centre in Yellowknife will depend on an evaluation to be conducted in Yellowknife.
Kayotuk was behind the wheel after a night of drinking July 6, 2014 when the silver 2012 Dodge Ram truck he was driving crashed into a power pole on Navy Road at around 3 a.m.
An agreed statement of facts read out in court earlier this week stated Kayotuk had been driving at a speed of between 160 and 170 km/h on the 50 km/h road, past three signs warning drivers to "use extreme caution" of an "uneven road" and to drive "slow." There were five people in the vehicle other than the driver. Kayotuk was arrested at the scene. His breathalyzer reading was more than twice the legal limit for alcohol at 170 mg per 100 ml of blood. A second reading showed an even higher amount 22 minutes later.
While he originally contested the charges, he changed his plea to guilty in April to one count of impaired driving causing death, three counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, and one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle.
Crown prosecutor Alex Godfrey and defence lawyer Marissa Tordoff agreed that the term of imprisonment should range from two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years.
"Obviously this offence itself has had a monumental impact on the families," Godfrey told the court on the first of two days of proceedings Aug. 29.
"You can see that in the courtroom here today and you'll hear that in the victim impact statements."
Those statements from family and friends spoke of the unfathomable grief of losing Larocque-Firth, the fear and trauma of the morning itself, but mostly of the pain of moving on without a daughter, sister, and a friend.
Her younger brother Brody Firth, whose statement was read out by Crown witness co-ordinator Vivian Hansen, said he has struggled with alcohol addiction since Larocque-Firth died when he was 20. He said his relationship with his mother has suffered and that he spends the anniversary of his sister's death away from the community.
Heather Moses, Larocque-Firth's best friend, told the court she woke up twice during the night of the collision - first when she felt something was wrong, and again when there was a knock at her door.
"I'm going to counselling, and it helps," she said.
"But I'm never going to have my best friend back ... I miss her and I miss her every day."
Larocque-Firth's mother, Deanna Larocque, did not sit in the courtroom with the 20 or so people who came to hear the proceedings. She came in to make a statement and, after a long pause, stood at the front of the gallery and told the judge through tears that she had spent two years waiting for this day.
"Not one of us knows how or what we're supposed to do. What we carry will never go away, just because you're finally getting sentenced," she said to Kayotuk. "I never cared about you before you killed my daughter, and I don't care about you now."
Both Moses and Larocque said they hoped the accused would receive a lengthy prison sentence, noting how the accused smirked when they saw him in the community and showed little remorse during proceedings.
Kayotuk did not speak at all during the proceedings. He sat with his head down, wearing a black hoodie and jeans. While many family members and friends of the victims were present both days, no one appeared for the accused.
"I hope you get the maximum," Larocque said.
"I hope you never have the licence to take another life."
The judge made a statement on the first day of the sentencing hearing.
"We are so concerned about firearms," said Mahar Aug. 29, adding that a second gun offence results in a life-long prohibition.
"And yet we seem to think that driving is a right ... I think it's time we stop looking at this horror only at the end."
He said Kayotuk's previous related record for impaired driving in 2010 - for which he paid a fine - was an aggravating factor.
"It's very difficult to not be blinded by anger in this," Mahar said when rendering his decision Aug. 30.
"I didn't even know the deceased, and I struggled yesterday."
He went on to say that if Parliament and the court system are serious about "stopping carnage on the roads," more needs to be done to stop people from making the choice to drink and drive. He said while 99 times out of 100 no one is hurt when someone gets behind the wheel while intoxicated, drunk drivers roll the dice every time they get into a vehicle.
