By Colin Grimson
On Sep 9th, Judge Michel Mercier handed down a life imprisonment sentence to a tearful, 57 year-old Roger Walsh for his part in the "hit and run" death of Anee Khudaverdian, a forty-seven year-old polio victim, who had been confined to a wheel chair for most of her adult life. Following the accident Walsh, who was driving without a valid licence, drove away without stopping to attend to his victim, and was arrested ten kilometres down the road after driving into a ditch. It was not clear if Walsh's tears were for his victim, in response to his sentence, or both.
The Crown had asked Judge Mercier to declare Walsh a dangerous offender which would have carried a fixed prison term followed by mandatory supervision for ten years following his release. The life sentence will make him eligible for parole after seven years. Instead of labelling Walsh a dangerous offender, Judge Mercier declared he was incorrigible. In other words, the judge concluded Walsh could not be corrected, improved, or reformed, but still refused to label him a dangerous offender.
In his adult lifetime, Roger Walsh has racked up 18 convictions for impaired driving and more than 100 convictions for assault, fraud, and theft, yet he has never served more than 15 months.
Something is wrong here. How does a man who pays such little attention to the courts' efforts to reform his behavior continue to live his life with impunity, free to continue living as he pleases? Now, finally he will be off the streets for an extended period of time, but not before taking the life of another human being.
Already in 2009, there have been 26 deaths attributed to drunk drivers in Canada. In 2008, 35 deaths occurred at the hands of drunk drivers. Alcohol and driving just don't mix. When is our court system going to get serious?
The Bulwer Community Centre 500 Card Parties are underway again. The next two will be on Thurs. Oct 8th and Thurs. Oct 22nd. Games start at 2 pm and are followed by a lunch and the distribution of prizes. Everyone is welcome.
Anglican Church services for the next two weeks will be: Oct 4th - Sawyerville [9:15 MP], Marbleton [10:00 am MP], Bury [11:00 MP], and Cookshire [11:00 MP]; and Oct 11th - Sawyerville [9:15 MP], Bury [11:00 MP], and Cookshire [11:00 MP].
United Church services for the next two weeks are Oct 4th - Cookshire [9:30 am], and Sawyerville [11:00 in the Manse and Sunday School]; and Oct 11th - Cookshire [9:30 am], and Sawyerville [11:00 am in the Manse and Sunday School].
The next two issues of The Journal (with my deadlines in brackets) will be Oct 14th (Oct 5th) and Oct 28th (Oct 19th), and I can be reached at 819-823-5583 if you have an event you wish to appear in this column.
