Man gets nine years for injuring paper carrier

Donald Brodie has been sentenced to nine years in jail for fleeing from police in a highspeed chase and seriously injuring a newspaper carrier.

On Sept. 22, Judge Martha Devlin found Brodie, 38, guilty of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and flight from a police officer causing bodily harm.

Shortly after midnight on Dec. 6, 2013, Brodie sped away from an RCMP roadblock on a chase through Kelowna’s Rutland neighbourhood.

The car drove off the road and slammed into Steve Kania as he delivered newspapers at Dundas and Dundee roads. Kania, 45, was in a coma for more than a week. He suffered a serious brain injury and spinal fractures.

Speaking in court Wednesday morning, Devlin told Brodie she found his conduct on the night in question “extremely blameworthy.”

“You demonstrated utter disregard for the lives and safety of others as you drove through the residential streets at a high rate of speed,” she said. “Unfortunately for Mr. Kania, your negligence has resulted in devastating and lifealtering injuries.”

Defence lawyer John Gustafson argued Brodie was making efforts to change and was remorseful. However, Crown prosecutor David Grabavac argued recent actions demonstrated otherwise.

On Oct. 2 of this year, Brodie pleaded guilty to a corrections violation after he assaulted another inmate on Sept. 30, when he used a razor blade to cut the right side of the victim’s face and neck. He received 30 days in segregation as a result of the offence.

A pre-sentence report concluded, “Mr Brodie’s violent behaviour is not limited to the community; it extends to the custodial setting, where despite being in an environment of extreme structure and supervision, he still poses a risk to the safety of others.”

In the last 18 years, Brodie has racked up 43 criminal convictions, 38 of which predate the Dec. 6 chase. He has received jail sentences for each conviction since 2004, Devlin said, adding he has never spent more than six months at a time in the community between jail sentences. He had been out of jail for only 46 days when the Kelowna police chase occurred.