N.B. man receives 2-year jail sentence in death of popular Halifax bottle collector

A New Brunswick man has been sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the crash that killed Wray Hart, a well-known Halifax bottle collector.

Dennis Patterson, 24, was sentenced at Halifax provincial court on Thursday, two months after pleading guilty to causing death by driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of 80 milligrams.

“Mr. Hart was an innocent pedestrian. He should have been safe pushing his shopping cart along the street at three in the morning,” said Judge Gregory Lenehan, reading from his decision.

“It was not the result of an accident, he was the victim of a criminal offence.”

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READ MORE: N.B. man charged in death of well-known Halifax bottle collector waives preliminary inquiry

Patterson will remain under probation, unable to drive for three years after his sentence is complete, and unable to consume drugs or alcohol for two years. He must also complete 50 hours of community service by Nov. 21, 2023, which must deal with the education of the dangers of drinking and driving.

A sample of his DNA will be stored in the provincial databank as well.

“I want to acknowledge the harm that I’ve caused, and I’m truly very sorry I put you guys through this,” said Patterson, rising after sentencing to address Hart’s friends and family gathered in the courtroom.

The judge, crown attorneys and defense counsel acknowledged Patterson’s “genuine remorse” as a mitigating factor in his sentencing, along with his guilty plea, youthfulness and lack of previous criminal record.

Aggravating factors included the high speed at which he drove that night, blasting through stop signs, his blood alcohol level and the area of the offence — a crowded South End neighbourhood where anyone could have been hit.

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Hart was killed in January 2018 after he was struck and pinned by a car driven by Patterson. He was pronounced dead at the scene, by Queen and Green streets. He was described in victim impact statements as deeply generous, and caring of other vulnerable individuals who lived on the streets.

Patterson, who was enrolled in the Saint Mary’s University MBA program at the time of the crash, was charged with impaired driving, impaired driving causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. He fled the scene on foot, despite attempts from witnesses to keep him there.

“Hopefully this gets across everywhere that it’s not okay to drink and drive, because it does take somebody’s life, it does hurt a lot of people and it will continue,” Anthony Hart, Wray Hart’s son, told reporters on Thursday. “The only thing we can do is remember Wray every day.”

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Hart, 62 at the time of his death, was a fixture in downtown Halifax, where he could often be seen sitting outside the old library on Spring Garden Road or pushing a shopping cart piled high with recyclables.

A GoFundMe page for Hart’s family raised $8,500.

With files from Graeme Benjamin