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House Arrest for killing two Jamaicans
Driver confined to home for killing two cyclists
Wed, March 19, 2008
By DANIEL PEARCE, SUN MEDIA
checkCookie(); A Simcoe man who struck and killed two Jamaican farm workers riding bikes down Highway 59 will spend most of the next two years confined to his home.
Charles Morris — who, as a child, was hailed as a national hero for rescuing a drowning boy — was also banned this week in a Simcoe courtroom from driving for 10 years.
As well, he was ordered to speak to migrant farm workers in Norfolk to warn them of the dangers of riding bikes on area roads.
Judge James Turnbull disagreed with the Crown’s request for a three-year penitentiary term and opted for house arrest. He called the crash a “tragic accident” that falls into the “lower end of the spectrum” of dangerous-driving convictions.
Morris, 28, drove into three Jamaican farm workers who were riding single file down a largely deserted country highway on their way to Delhi in late September 2005. One man was seriously injured.
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It was dusk, the road was unlit, and the men had no lights or proper reflectors and wore dark clothing.
But evidence presented at the trial by police showed that Morris was traveling somewhere between 100 and 120 km/h in an 80 km/h zone.
Had Morris been following the speed limit, “he would have seen the cyclists ahead of him” and “would have been able to take evasive action. By moving his vehicle slightly to the left, this accident would never have happened,” Turnbull said.
Last fall, a jury found Morris guilty of two counts of dangerous driving causing death and one count of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Junior Bell, 28, the son of one of the victims, attended the sentencing and said he was “very disappointed” with Turnbull’s decision.
“To me, he should serve his sentence in prison,” said Bell, of Toronto, whose father William Bell, 54, died in the crash.
“Every day we’re going to remember about it. You can’t put it away, you can’t forget it.”
During sentencing, Turnbull said house arrest is still “restrictive and punitive.”
As well, he noted that Morris has no record, drugs or alcohol were not involved in the crash, and the father of three is active volunteering in the community and is “extremely remorseful” over the accident.
“The significant licence suspension can’t be underestimated,” Turnbull added.
Also killed in the crash was Desmond McNeil, 39. Fred Smith, 37, suffered a broken neck and fractured back and testified at the trial.
Smith is still in pain and will never work again while the families of the other men are struggling emotionally and financially, court was told. The two widows have farms in Jamaica they are having a hard time maintaining, Turnbull noted.
Outside the courtroom, Morris declined to comment and referred reporters to his lawyer, Shawn Swarts.
Swarts said his client is considering an appeal.
“Given the jury’s conviction, the sentence was appropriate,” Swarts added.
Morris is allowed to travel back and forth from his home to his job at an area farm.
He is also engaged. Terms of Morris’s sentence give him 12 hours outside his home for a marriage ceremony and reception.
When he was 10, Morris was awarded a medal by Canada’s Governor-General after he rescued a drowning two-year-old boy from a backyard pool in Simcoe.
His problems have not ended. Family members of the victims have launched civil suits
Wed, March 19, 2008
By DANIEL PEARCE, SUN MEDIA
checkCookie(); A Simcoe man who struck and killed two Jamaican farm workers riding bikes down Highway 59 will spend most of the next two years confined to his home.
Charles Morris — who, as a child, was hailed as a national hero for rescuing a drowning boy — was also banned this week in a Simcoe courtroom from driving for 10 years.
As well, he was ordered to speak to migrant farm workers in Norfolk to warn them of the dangers of riding bikes on area roads.
Judge James Turnbull disagreed with the Crown’s request for a three-year penitentiary term and opted for house arrest. He called the crash a “tragic accident” that falls into the “lower end of the spectrum” of dangerous-driving convictions.
Morris, 28, drove into three Jamaican farm workers who were riding single file down a largely deserted country highway on their way to Delhi in late September 2005. One man was seriously injured.
fctAdTag("bigbox",MyGenericTagVar,1);
It was dusk, the road was unlit, and the men had no lights or proper reflectors and wore dark clothing.
But evidence presented at the trial by police showed that Morris was traveling somewhere between 100 and 120 km/h in an 80 km/h zone.
Had Morris been following the speed limit, “he would have seen the cyclists ahead of him” and “would have been able to take evasive action. By moving his vehicle slightly to the left, this accident would never have happened,” Turnbull said.
Last fall, a jury found Morris guilty of two counts of dangerous driving causing death and one count of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Junior Bell, 28, the son of one of the victims, attended the sentencing and said he was “very disappointed” with Turnbull’s decision.
“To me, he should serve his sentence in prison,” said Bell, of Toronto, whose father William Bell, 54, died in the crash.
“Every day we’re going to remember about it. You can’t put it away, you can’t forget it.”
During sentencing, Turnbull said house arrest is still “restrictive and punitive.”
As well, he noted that Morris has no record, drugs or alcohol were not involved in the crash, and the father of three is active volunteering in the community and is “extremely remorseful” over the accident.
“The significant licence suspension can’t be underestimated,” Turnbull added.
Also killed in the crash was Desmond McNeil, 39. Fred Smith, 37, suffered a broken neck and fractured back and testified at the trial.
Smith is still in pain and will never work again while the families of the other men are struggling emotionally and financially, court was told. The two widows have farms in Jamaica they are having a hard time maintaining, Turnbull noted.
Outside the courtroom, Morris declined to comment and referred reporters to his lawyer, Shawn Swarts.
Swarts said his client is considering an appeal.
“Given the jury’s conviction, the sentence was appropriate,” Swarts added.
Morris is allowed to travel back and forth from his home to his job at an area farm.
He is also engaged. Terms of Morris’s sentence give him 12 hours outside his home for a marriage ceremony and reception.
When he was 10, Morris was awarded a medal by Canada’s Governor-General after he rescued a drowning two-year-old boy from a backyard pool in Simcoe.
His problems have not ended. Family members of the victims have launched civil suits