‘I have taken the most valuable things in your life. I am so, so, so, so sorry’
Truck driver addresses victims’ families at sentencing and admits his lack of experience caused crash with Humboldt Broncos’ bus that killed 16 and injured 13
Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, the driver of the truck that struck the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, made his first public statements since the crash at his sentencing hearing Thursday in Melfort, Sask.
MELFORT, SASK.— Jaskirat Singh Sidhu said he didn’t even know what had happened until he crawled out of the overturned cabin of his semitruck and heard the screaming.
“I cannot imagine what you are going through,” Sidhu said Thursday, turning toward members of the gallery in the Melfort, Sask., courtroom. “I have taken the most valuable things in your life.”
He apologized to the families directly, saying: “I take full responsibility for what has happened. It happened because of my lack of experience and I am so, so, so, so sorry.”
After sentencing submissions from both the Crown and defence, Justice Inez Cardinal said it was “going to take some time” to review all of the materials and make her decision. Cardinal adjourned court until March 22.
Both the Crown and defence acknowledged there has been no case like this in Canada. The scale of the devastation is unprecedented: Sixteen people were killed and 13 more were seriously injured after the semitruck Sidhu was driving blew through a stop sign in rural Saskatchewan on April 6. Crown prosecutor Thomas Healey said that, compared with the last three days of testimony given by the victims’ family and friends, “the comments I’ve prepared seem dry and academic.”
He then explained that based on the facts of the case, current legal statutes, other case law and the victim-impact statements delivered, he believes a 10-year sentence is fitting.
“This wasn’t just an accident; this was a crime,” Healey argued. According to an RCMP forensic collision report, Sidhu drove past four signs that would have warned him an intersection was coming before running straight through the intersection of Highway 35 and Highway 335, which was marked with an oversized stop sign with a flashing red light.
“How does someone miss all of those signs?” Healey asked.
Defence lawyer Mark Brayford said his client has no explanation.
“I can’t tell people what happened,” Brayford said. “He simply doesn’t know.”
The Humboldt Broncos’ bus driver slammed hard on the brakes, skidding for 24 metres, but it was too late. The bus hit the side of the semi at approximately a 100 km/h.
The driver of the bus reacted as quickly as humanly possible, court heard, but as the truck was completely blocking the intersection, there was no way for the bus to avoid the crash.
Sidhu pleaded guilty to 16 charges of dangerous driving causing death and 13 charges of dangerous driving causing injury.
Each of the 16 charges of dan- gerous driving causing death comes with a maximum sentence of14 years in prison, while the injury charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Defence lawyer Glen Luther stated that “Sidhu pleaded guilty because he feels guilty.” However, the defence focused on Sidhu’s intent, arguing his actions were not intentionally reckless but were instead negligent based on his inexperience.
Luther said Sidhu had only been driving for a few weeks and only one week unsupervised. Brayford said Sidhu was in “way over his head,” pulling two trailers on narrow rural Saskatchewan highways.
He said that while there is no question Sidhu caused the collision, sentencing isn’t as simple as multiplying the years he would have served had his driving only caused one death by the number of victims.
While case law suggests that dangerous driving causing more than one death is met with harsher punishments, Brayford said there is no clear formula.
“We are not as simplistic as an-eye-for-an-eye,” Brayford said.
The Crown, however, argued Sidhu’s level of moral blameworthiness in the collision was high and described the result as being as “horrific as it was catastrophic.”
Healey argued Sidhu was driving a large vehicle and should have known to show even greater care than the average driver.
The collision occurred in broad daylight on clear roads. Sidhu still somehow failed to notice any of the signs lining the highway a half-a-kilometre up to the intersection, Healey said, as well as another car parked on the opposite side of the highway waiting for the Broncos bus to pass. The highway the bus was travelling on would have also been visible from a distance.
“All he had to do was stop. That’s it. Stop. We wouldn’t even be here today,” Healey said.
Healey said there are a number of mitigating factors, including Sidhu’s guilty pleas and genuine remorse, but whatever sentence is meted must be enough to deter other drivers from being similarly careless.
The defence offered no length of sentence in its submission, but any sentence out of these charges will have severe repercussions for Sidhu.
Sidhu is a permanent resident of Canada, having immigrated from India a few months after his wife arrived five years ago.
Should he be sentenced to anything longer than six months, he will lose his status and be unable to remain in Canada.
The sentence could also include a driving prohibition, effectively ending his short-lived career as a professional trucker.
But whatever consequences Sidhu will face, Brayford said Sidhu understands nothing can come close to the losses suffered by the families.
“He continues to think about the harm he caused.”