Eight-month jail term for officer in crash that killed 5-year-old boy
Quebec judge: sentence ‘could seem ... lenient’
MONTREAL • A Quebec Court judge who expressed surprise at the lenient joint recommendation has nevertheless sentenced a former Sûreté du Québec officer to an eight-month prison term for killing a child while driving at high speed.
Just before 8 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2014, Patrick Ouellet, 34, was speeding to catch up to a surveillance operation when he struck a car driven by the father of five-year-old Nicholas Thorne-Belance.
Ouellet, in an unmarked vehicle, had no reason to be driving at high speed to be part of the surveillance operation, which was part of an anti-corruption investigation.
Ouellet was travelling at 134 km/h in a 50 km/h zone two seconds before he hit the brakes and struck the car on a street in suburban Longueuil.
“(I) agree that the suggested sentence could seem, at first glance, lenient,” Judge Éric Simard said while delivering his decision at the Longueuil courthouse Tuesday.
Earlier in his 12-page decision, Simard admitted he was “surprised” by the joint recommendation of the prosecution and defence that was presented to him in October. Ouellet was convicted under a section of the Criminal Code that comes with a maximum 14-year sentence.
“It should not be forgotten that the consequences of (Patrick Ouellet’s) dangerous driving was the tragic death of a five-year-old boy.
“What hits particularly hard in this tragedy is the futility of the reasons that explain it,” Simard said.
“The power or the latitude to exceed the limits permitted in certain situations, or to contravene the rule of the road, should always be done in the spirit that obligates the assurance of the safety of other people using the road. To repeat, the police are never exonerated of their obligation to act with prudence like any other person on the road.”
The boy’s mother, Stéphanie Thorne, and his teenage sister Dahlia attended the sentence hearing. Thorne left in tears after Simard delivered his decision.
The judge noted how, during the hearing in October, she said “their family life was destroyed that morning and they are struggling, even today, to keep their head above water.”
In a letter she filed to the court, Dahlia described how she suffered “an immense loss” when her sibling died in a hospital days after the crash.
In a statement to police on the day of the collision, Nicholas’s father, who was injured in the crash, said he was taking his usual route to the boy’s daycare when he prepared to turn left.
Though he saw cars approaching in the opposite direction, he said he judged he had time to complete his turn on a green light. He then tried to accelerate when he realized how fast Ouellet’s car was travelling, but it was too late.
An expert witness testified the crash could have been avoided if Ouellet had been driving at 80 km/h.
In explaining why he agreed with the recommendation, Simard noted Ouellet had displayed genuine remorse and regret when he testified at the sentencing hearing. The judge also noted Ouellet is considered a low risk of reoffending and that he had been fired from the provincial police force after the collision.
Ouellet was taken into custody after Simard delivered the sentence, which prohibits him from driving for 20 months. Ouellet has already filed an appeal of Simard’s July 19 decision to convict him of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death.
WHAT HITS PARTICULARLY HARD IS THE FUTILITY.