Screaming match follows death crash sentencing

Emotions spilled outside of a courtroom Tuesday as the daughter of a woman killed in a fatal crash got into a screaming match with her uncle.

Sonia Torn yelled at the man as he left court after her newly discovered father was sentenced to two years in a federal prison on a charge of dangerous driving causing death.

“He used to be my uncle … now he’s someone I just don’t know,” Torn yelled, as the man left the provincial court building in Turner Valley.

She then let out a series of guttural screams, causing a sheriff to emerge from the courthouse.

Torn also pulled a knife and threatened to go after her uncle, but was restrained by supporters.

The cause of the tension was the fact Torn was supporting Robert John McGechie, the man who was behind the wheel when his car rolled, killing his girlfriend, Tamara Torn.

The former teen sweethearts had reconnected only shortly before the Nov. 1, 2015, crash and Torn told McGechie he was the father of her teenage daughter, Sonia, then 17.

The couple had spent the last nine days of Tamara Torn’s life together.

But provincial court Judge Sean Dunnigan said McGechie, 36, chose booze over the reunion of the family, choosing to drink before he got behind the wheel, though he wasn’t legally impaired when the crash occurred.

Dunnigan said Torn lost her life “after a brief nine days of trying to love again an individual who at the time loved only booze.”

“No sentence I impose will ever replace Tamara’s life,” he said, in accepting a joint submission from defence lawyer Alain Hepner and Crown prosecutor Joshua Chan for a two-year prison term.

Hepner noted McGechie pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing death, not impaired driving.

But he acknowledged his client has struggled with booze.

“He told me alcohol has been his demon,” Hepner said.

In her victim-impact statement, made an exhibit before Dunnigan, Sonia Torn said she supported her father despite his recklessness killing her mom. “He did a stupid thing but he will be living with the pain the rest of his life,” she said.

Before being sentenced, McGechie told court he was remorseful for his conduct.

“It was not my intent to cause this kind of suffering,” he said.

“I am deeply sorry for what I did,” he said. “I can’t expect you to forgive me.”

Along with the jail term, McGechie is prohibited from driving for five years.