Georgian Bay man faces sentencing for deadly impaired driving crash on Hwy 12
Warning: Content in this article may be distressing for readers.
A sentencing hearing got underway for the 72-year-old Georgian Bay man convicted of driving impaired and causing a collision on Highway 12 in 2020 that claimed the life of a 77-year-old Midland man.
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Sigfrid Stahn arrived at the Barrie courthouse on Wednesday, saying the court case and impending sentencing have left him sleepless.
"It's been keeping me up at night. I'm sorry about what happened. But I feel like it could have been avoided as well. The outcome is what it is now. I can't change what happened," Stahn said.
On July 4, 2020, Stahn was travelling east on Highway 12 in Waubaushene when his truck collided with Guenter Naumann's car as it approached west.
A pickup truck and convertible car are pictured after a deadly head-on collision on Highway 12 in Waubaushene, Ont., on July 4, 2020. (Source: OPP/Court Exhibit)
Witnesses testified Stahn was driving erratically before the crash that happened at a bend in the road between Frazer Lane and Gratrix Road, sending Naumann's car airborne before it slammed into the road.
Naumann, a husband, father and grandfather, was airlifted to a trauma centre and died a week later.
"You took the love of my life away," Naumann's wife of 28 years, Rejeanne Lachapelle, said in the courtroom on Wednesday. "I lost my home because of you," she added.
Crown attorney Sarah Sullivan told the court Stahn's prior history of impaired driving offences demonstrates a "blatant, persistent disregard for the privilege of driving in this country."
During the trial, the Crown told the court Stahn chose to drive drunk, causing the "senseless head-on collision," which Stahn said he had no recollection of and only learned the details in the two-week trial.
A pickup truck and convertible car are pictured after a deadly head-on collision on Highway 12 in Waubaushene, Ont., on July 4, 2020. (Source: OPP/Court Exhibit)
Justice Michael McKelvey also highlighted Stahn's previous convictions, stating, "he doesn't seem to learn his lesson."
The judge added the 72-year-old "doesn't get the mitigating factor of someone who is remorseful. That message doesn't seem to have sunk in yet."
The Crown is asking for a nine-year penitentiary sentence and subsequent driving ban for 15 years, while the defence argues Stahn should be sentenced to six years.
Justice McKelvey is scheduled to hand down sentencing on June 14.
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