Conditional sentence for motorist in crash that killed reverend
Victim’s wife said her husband would not have wanted driver to be jailed because of his death
Rev. Canon Rob Fead’s dedication to serving the community ended abruptly on April 30, 2018, when the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a pickup truck in rural Wainfleet.
The 54-year-old, who had previously served at St. George’s Church in St. Catharines, suffered “significant blunt force injury” and died at the scene.
In Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines Thursday, 29year-old Dillon Willick was granted a two-year conditional sentence on a charge of dangerous driving.
A conditional sentence is served in the community and not behind bars. He will be under house arrest for the first twothirds of his sentence.
Upon completion of the conditional sentence, Willick will be on probation for two years. The Dunnville resident, who had no previous record, was also banned from driving for three years.
At his sentencing hearing in February, the victim’s wife, Veronica, told court her husband likely would not have wanted the young man to go to jail.
She described her husband as a “man of mercy and compassion,” and urged the defendant to honour her husband’s memory by helping others in his community.
Judge Joseph De Filippis on Thursday also ordered Willick to perform 200 hours of community service.
“Mrs. Fead, let me say again that I am very sorry for your loss and I hope you are able to move forward,” the judge added.
Fead started as a Catholic priest in the Hamilton diocese in 1993. He transferred to the Anglican Church in 2002 and joined the Niagara diocese. He was the rector at St. George’s church in St. Catharines between 2003 and 2014 and served as chaplain for the St. Catharines fire department.
He and his wife were also billet parents with the Niagara IceDogs.
Fead also served as padre to 31 Canadian Brigade Group.
As chaplain to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, he conducted the October 2014 nationally-televised service for Nathan Cirillo, a 24-year-old Hamilton soldier who was shot dead in Ottawa by a man who then stormed the Parliament Buildings before being fatally shot by security staff.