The driver whose truck crashed into a hockey team’s bus in Canada, killing 16 people, on Friday was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Thirteen others were injured when Jaskirat Singh Sidhu’s semitrailer loaded with peat moss collided with the Humboldt Broncos’ bus in rural Saskatchewan.
Sidhu had earlier this year pleaded guilty to 29 counts of dangerous driving.
The Broncos were on their way to a playoff game in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
Judge Inez Cardinal said that Sidhu’s remorse and guilty plea were mitigating factors, but added that she had to consider the number of people who died or were severely injured and face lifelong challenges.
Sidhu’s truck in April last year ran through a stop sign and into the path of the junior hockey team’s bus at an intersection.
The collision was avoidable, Cardinal said.
“Mr Sidhu had ample time to react ... had he been paying attention,” she said. “Somehow we must stop this carnage on our highways.”
The prosecution wanted the 30-year-old Sidhu to be sent to prison for 10 years, while his lawyers said that other cases suggested a range of one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years.
Cardinal began her decision by reading aloud each victim’s name. She said the nearly 100 victim impact statements from families were staggering.
The judge said that the hockey players who died were gifted athletes, while others on the bus were dreaming about families or had already started them.
“Families have been torn apart because of the loss,” Cardinal said. “They are prone to depression, anxiety or outbursts.”
She also spoke of the survivors, who she said “are putting on a brave face in an attempt to be strong.”
Sidhu’s lawyers had said he was remorseful and is likely to face deportation to his home country of India after he serves time.
At a sentencing hearing in January, it was made known that Sidhu was going 86kph to 96kph when he passed four signs warning him about the upcoming intersection and approached an oversized stop sign with a flashing light.
Sidhu should have seen the busy highway in front of him or a car that was stopped across the road and waiting for the Broncos’ bus to pass, prosecutor Thomas Healey said.
Healey described the semitrailer as a rocket that barreled into the intersection, which gave the bus driver no time to avoid the crash.
Defense lawyer Mark Brayford said that Sidhu was hired by a small Calgary trucking company three weeks earlier. He had spent two weeks with another truck driver before heading out on his own for the first time.
Sidhu was distracted by a flapping tarp on the back of his load of peat moss, Brayford said.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS