Sixty-five-year-old Hong Xu, who drove her SUV right into a crowd of individuals celebrating a marriage at her next-door neighbour’s home in West Vancouver on Aug. 20, 2022, has been sentenced beneath the Motor Car Act for driving with out due care and a focus.
An investigation decided Xu mistakenly hit the gasoline as a substitute of the brake. Two wedding ceremony visitors – 67-year-old Annie Kong and 62-year-old Lieu Nguyen – have been killed, and 7 others have been injured.
On Tuesday, a provincial court docket decide in North Vancouver ordered Xu to pay a $2,000 wonderful and prohibited her from driving for 5 years.
Whereas the victims’ households have been anticipating the comparatively mild sentence, which was really useful by each Crown and defence after Xu pleaded responsible to the Motor Car Act cost on Monday, the truth of the driving force escaping with out legal fees and jail time was nonetheless tough to swallow.
“It’s an outrage; it’s an absolute outrage,” stated Annie Kong’s son Nigel.
“That is one thing that’s for a minor site visitors offence. We’re speaking about two lives, a number of individuals critically injured, a number of households’ potential future hopes dashed. How is that price so little?”
The household of the bride spoke to CTV Information for the primary time publicly exterior court docket.
“The wonderful that the defendant acquired is extremely unfair for the damages, the dying, the accidents and the trauma that resulted from her accident,” stated Susan Nguyen, who’s the niece of the second sufferer. Her sister was the bride whose wedding ceremony day was marred by tragedy.
“There isn’t any one on the market that may assist her grieve, assist her course of the loss. And going by way of this (court docket) course of can be reliving that tragedy,” stated Susan Nguyen of her sister Nancy, who learn an emotional sufferer influence assertion in court docket on Monday.
“She’s doing the perfect that she will be able to, the perfect all of the households can. However we’re simply topic to the courts’ mercy at this level.”
Nigel Kong believes Xu ought to have been charged criminally.
“She knew there was a marriage taking place, she knew she was getting behind the wheel,” he stated. “It’s a privilege to drive, it’s not a proper. And in case you get right into a automobile, you have got to have the ability to perceive tips on how to use it, and clearly on this case, she didn’t know tips on how to use it.”
Xu’s lawyer Ian Donaldson says his shopper is full of regret and sorrow for what occurred on the wedding ceremony.
“I’m certain that she is relieved that the continuing is over, however she continues to weep over the implications of her actions. She is a real human who may be very unhappy about all of this,” stated Donaldson.
However he believes the cost and the sentence have been appropriate.
“We in Canada don’t jail individuals for inadvertent errors. We don’t do this. Until there’s a legal factor of fault to it, and there was was no legal fault. The police agreed, the Crown agrees, I agree, all of us I agree,” Donaldson stated. “I’m sorry for his or her loss. It’s a horrible loss, however jailing Ms. Xu doesn’t assist that loss.”
Whereas the Nguyen household isn’t certain what sentence would have been acceptable, they consider what Xu was in the end given was not justice.
“That’s not solely insufficient, that’s an insult,” stated Susan Nguyen. “What occurred that day wasn’t just a few damaged fence posts or flowers. Folks died, bought maimed, kids have been injured, kids have been scarred, and that’s not OK.”
As a result of Xu wasn’t charged criminally, ICBC’s no fault insurance coverage mannequin prevents the victims’ households from pursuing a civil case. Within the eyes of the legislation, the matter is now closed.
“We have now no recourse, no additional means to know what actually occurred,” stated Nigel Kong. “It’s so unjust. It’s so unfair.”
