(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

A Shuswap man whose reckless driving resulted in the death of a 28-year-old mother of four will spend a further three years in prison.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Ann Donegan sentenced 34-year-old Dorian Bell to four and a half years in jail for dangerous driving causing death, Oct. 14, at the Salmon Arm courthouse.

A Malakwa resident, Bell was high on meth at the time and had already been banned from driving when he evaded police and drove at high speed from Salmon Arm to Sicamous in May 2021.

Bell overtook a tractor-trailer on a double-yellow line on the windy road, driving at speeds of up to 130 km/h.

Police tried to bring his vehicle to halt with a spike belt near the Bruhn Bridge in Sicamous.

However, Bell swerved and the vehicle rolled down a steep embankment, killing the passenger Brittany Thompson.

Thompson and Bell had been neighbours and she'd asked for a lift to Salmon Arm that day to take her cat to the vet.

The crash left Thompson's children, aged 10, four, three and 20 months old without a mother.

"She was a daughter, a mother, a sister, a wife, and a friend, she was a person who had her whole life ahead of her," Justice Donegan said. "Her heartbreaking death has created an immeasurable void and tremendous grief for all those who knew her."

The Justice went on to say that Thompson's death had profound, traumatic, and lasting effects, on her family and her friends.

Following the crash, Bell was airlifted to Kamloops hospital. A blood test found meth, cannabis and ketamine in his system.

He later checked out early against medical advice and fled to Alberta. He was picked up and brought back to B.C.

Following the crash the Independent Investigations Office of B.C investigated but determined the RCMP officers did not commit an offence during the traffic stop.

At the time of the crash, Bell had been banned from driving and was supposed to be under house arrest for robbery. He used stolen plates on the car he was driving.

The court heard how Bell had struggled with addiction and had a brain injury prior to the crash.

At an early court appearance in January, Bell had said he couldn't remember the crash because of his brain injury which had been made worse since the crash.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, fleeing police, and driving while prohibited in June.

The Justice said Bell had a difficult and abusive upbringing and she accepted that he was truly remorseful for what he had done.

"He will have to live with this knowledge, the knowledge of all the pain he has caused others for the rest of his life," the Justice said.

In a joint submission to the court, Crown and defence lawyers asked for four and a half years in jail.

Justice Donegan said while this was on the lower end of sentencing she accepted the submission.

With credit for time already severed in jail, Bell will spend another three years in prison. He's also been banned from driving for 10 years.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2022