Kenneth Fenton arrives for a sentencing hearing at Western Communities Courthouse in Colwood, B.C., on Friday, July 7, 2017, for impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death of RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett April 5, 2016.

Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

COLWOOD, B.C. - The father of a speeding drunk driver who rammed his truck into a police cruiser and killed a Mountie says his son is "not a monster" and will deal with the tragedy for the rest of his life.

Ken Fenton said in a letter submitted Friday at a B.C. Supreme Court sentencing hearing for Kenneth Fenton that his son, also known as Jacob, has a three-year-old boy.

"Jacob is a loving father, son and brother," he said in the letter read in court Friday.

He said his family's grief cannot compare with the pain and suffering that Const. Sarah Beckett's family has endured since her death in April 2016.

Kenneth Fenton's mother, Marilyn Fenton, said in a letter that the death of Beckett, a married mother of two young boys, was heartbreaking.

"We send our deepest condolences and prayers daily," she said.

Court has heard Fenton, 29, had three times the legal blood-alcohol limit in his system when he ran a red light and hit Beckett's cruiser broadside.

Fenton's lawyer Dale Marshall submitted 33 character reference letters on his client's behalf.

"The tragedy has affected many, many good and innocent people," Marshall said, adding Fenton comes from a solid family and is taking responsibility for his actions.

Marshall said the stigma of the tragedy has also had an impact on Fenton's parents, who have endured name calling, spitting and vandalism at their local business.

Fenton was verbally attacked in the parking lot of the courthouse after his appearance last month, he said, and one man suggested that Fenton should kill himself.

Fenton pleaded guilty in May to impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death.

The Crown has asked for a three- to five-year sentence for Fenton, while his defence says a three-year sentence would be more appropriate.

Beckett had recently returned to the West Shore RCMP detachment from maternity leave when she was killed.

Her husband, Brad Aschenbrenner, told court last month that he lost the love of his life and the mother of their young sons, Lucas and Emmett.

The hardest thing after his wife's death was telling six-year-old Lucas "mommy wasn't coming home," Aschenbrenner said.

His youngest son was two when his mother died and "will have no memory of her at all," he told the court in his victim impact statement.

The B.C. Prosecution Service said Fenton is expected to be sentenced on July 14.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Kenneth Fenton would be sentenced today.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2017