The man who pleaded guilty to two criminal counts in the death of RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett in Langford in April 2016 was in court on Wednesday for sentencing.
Last month, 29-year-old Kenneth Fenton pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death after the pickup truck he was driving on April 5, 2016, collided with Beckett’s cruiser, killing the West Shore RCMP officer.
At Fenton’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Crown asked for a five-year sentence.
The court heard Fenton had been drinking before the crash and was distraught over the recent suicide of a friend.
Crown attorney Tim Stokes told Fenton’s sentencing hearing that the man’s truck was going between 76 and 90 kilometres an hour when it entered the intersection and crashed into Const. Sarah Beckett’s vehicle in April 2016.
Stokes says Fenton’s truck was being followed by another RCMP vehicle after that officer noticed the tail lights were out.
Stokes described the crash as an explosion of glass and smoke to a courtroom in Colwood, B.C., full where people are holding tissues and wiping away tears.
Stokes says one witness at the accident scene said he heard Fenton say “one stupid decision.”
READ MORE: Thousands attend funeral for RCMP officer killed in crash
Beckett’s death shook the community, causing an outpouring of grief and support for her family. She had recently returned from maternity leave and left behind a husband and two young children.
Beckett was given a full regimental funeral, which was attended by thousands people, including police officers from across the province.
As he read his victim impact statement, Brad Aschenbrenner’s hands shook, his voice was low and cracked at times when he told the court about losing the love of his life and the mother of their young sons, Lucas and Emmett.
The hardest thing after his wife’s death was telling six-year-old Lucas “mommy wasn’t coming home,” Aschenbrenner said.
His youngest son was two years old when his mother died and “will have no memory of her at all,” he added.
He said the family tries to celebrate Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving, but “there’s always the undercurrent of sadness and loss.”
He has not been able to work, and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.
Aschenbrenner said he left his family in Idaho to come to Canada to be with Beckett. He is scheduled to get his Canadian citizenship at a ceremony on Friday.
In May, shortly after Fenton pleaded guilty in the death of Beckett, he faced other impaired driving charges in connection with a second collision that sent a woman to hospital about a month-and-a-half after the crash that killed Beckett.
Fenton is being sued by the passenger of a truck that was found in a ditch on May 22, 2016, on Goldstream Heights Drive, located northwest of Victoria. The passenger claims Fenton was speeding and driving under the influence when he hit the truck, causing it to go into the ditch.
The passenger says she suffered serious injuries in the crash.
Fenton has a history of driving infractions, including an impaired driving charge in 2010.
The second impaired drinking charges have not been proved in court.
— With files from Amy Judd and The Canadian Press
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