The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) investigation into an incident that resulted in the death of West Shore RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett last April concluded Thursday morning.
The IIO’s report is referring the case for consideration of charges against a police officer who tried to pull over the driver of the vehicle that did not stop, but later collided with a police cruiser and killed Const. Beckett.
The IIO was notified of the incident immediately, but released jurisdiction based on initial information provided to them. Subsequently, police provided further information that resulted in the IIO commencing an investigation. The investigation includes the circumstances surrounding the collision and the subsequent information provided by the subject officer to the RCMP.
The IIO has been investigating the incident for nearly a year, which has delayed the trial of the driver on at least one occasion. Fenton was supposed to inform the court how he intended to plead last month, but his lawyer requested a delay until the IIO has completed their investigation.
Kenneth Jacob Fenton, 28, received a bevy of charges last September to do with the death of Const. Beckett, including impaired driving causing death, flight from police causing death, dangerous driving causing death, driving with a blood alcohol content in excess of 80 milligrams and refusing to provide a sample of his blood to police when he knew, or ought to have known, that driving his car caused an accident resulting in death.
It is now up to the Criminal Justice Branch to approve those charges against the RCMP officer.
The crown counsel has responded to the IIO’s report saying, “The Report to Crown Counsel will now be reviewed by Crown Counsel to determine if the Charge assessment standard for proceeding with charges has been met. As the matter is now with the Criminal Justice Branch there will be no comment until the charge assessment process is completed.”
The crown counsel also indicated that it is too early to speculate as to the potential charges to may be considered on the facts of this case.
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