Kenneth Jacob Fenton, the man who was sentenced to four years in prison in the death of West Shore RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett, has been sentenced to an additional 18 months in jail in relation to a separate crash.
Fenton was sentenced after pleading guilty to impaired driving causing bodily harm following a car crash on May 22, 2016.
On that date, police discovered a green 1997 Chevy pickup truck that had rolled over on Goldstream Heights Drive in the Malahat area. Two people were inside, including Fenton. Fenton pleaded guilty to two charges including driving over .08 and one count of causing an accident resulting in bodily harm to Meghan Ashe, the passenger in the vehicle. Court heard at the time of the crash, Fenton was driving over 120 kilometres per hour and had a blood alcohol concentration of nearly three times the legal amount.
Court also heard Fenton had two prior 24-hour road-side suspensions for alcohol.
The crash was just over a month after Fenton rammed into Beckett’s RCMP cruiser while driving drunk and speeding, killing the mother of two.
The crown’s application to enter Aschenbrenner’s victim impact statement was reject by the judge, she said the issue wasn’t if he was emotionally harmed, the question was whether he fit into the definition of victim for this particular case and she simply couldn’t find a sufficient link.
In the courtroom, the judge said the case was weighted by an aggravating factor, which was the crash that took Beckett’s life. Mitigating factors included Fenton’s acceptance of responsibility, commitment to rehabilitation.
The 18 months will be served consecutively to the four years he’s currently serving for impaired driving causing the death of Beckett in April 2016. He was also sentenced to six months for fleeing from police, but those six months will be served concurrently.
Beckett’s husband, Brad Aschenbrenner,was at the hearing Monday and said no sentencing can ever undo the harm and he was “extremely displeased” with the sentence and will continue to advocate for tougher punishments.
“I will be speaking out i will be trying to raise awareness for this i don’t want other people to go through this it’s not fair to my kids it’s not fair to my wife’s family it’s not fair to me,” said Aschenbrenner.
Fenton was fined $1,500, which will have to be paid 12 months from day of release to pay the fine. He can’t possess a firearm starting Monday and ending 10 years after his release. He is prohibited from driving for five years after his release.
Fenton is also facing a civil lawsuit launched by Meghan Ashe, the passenger in the truck. She claims he was driving carelessly and speeding, causing the truck to hit a rock and roll over. She also alleges he was impaired by alcohol, drugs and fatigue.
Luisa Alvarez
