A man already serving a 4 years in jail for driving while impaired and killing a West Shore Mounties in April 2016 has been sentenced to an additional 18 months for another crash that happened 6 weeks later.
Kenneth Jacob Fenton pleaded guilty to driving over .08 and causing a collision resulting in bodily harm to his passenger -- his then-girlfriend, Meghan Ashe. He also pleaded guilty to flight from police.
On May 22nd the pick up truck Fenton was driving struck a rock and rolled over on Goldstream Heights Drive in the Malahat area. At the time of the crash Fenton's blood alcohol was 3.5 times the legal limit.
During sentencing this morning in a Duncan courtroom the judge stated Fenton's decision to drink and drive again after the first crash that killed Cnst. Sarah Beckett factored into his sentence.
Fenton is also facing a total of $1,500 in fines and once out of prison will not be able to drive for 5 years. He also may not possess firearms or crossbows. Fenton's defence counsel told the court that he no longer drinks, and is in an Alcoholics Anonymous program.
Fenton is also facing a civil lawsuit launched by his ex-girlfriend who claims he was speeding and driving carelessly, resulting in the truck striking a rock and flipping over.
The husband of Cnst. Beckett -- Brad Aschenbrenner -- was prevented from submitting a victim impact statement in this case. But he shared it with media outlets.
Aschenbrenner says he is having "difficulty moving on given the ridiculously short sentence the offender was given for his previous offense" and says he doesn't feel justice has been served.
He added, “I am deeply concerned that if this repeat offender is given anything less than the maximum allowable sentence it will send him a message that his behavior resulted in only a mild consequence and is therefore somehow acceptable.”