It was an emotional day, as the family of Geoff Gaston told the court how their lives have been changed forever.
Gaston’s wife stood up first in a packed Newmarket court room on Wednesday during the sentencing hearing for Marcello Fracassi.
Filled with grief, Tanya Gaston said “I went to sleep a wife and woke up a widow. The word widow makes me cringe. It’s a title you forced me to bare.”
Fracassi was found guilty in November of impaired driving causing death and bodily harm.
Gaston was painting lines on Victoria Street in June 2014 in Alliston, when he was struck and killed by Fracassi’s pickup truck.
“My life, everything I knew had been shattered. I loathe you. You had no right to do this to our family," says Gaston.
"Every single day I wonder why my dad had to be taken,” Gaston’s son Tim told the court. “My dad and I were more than father and son. We were best friends."
Throughout the trial Fracassi’s defence lawyer argued his client was “sleep driving” on the night in question, something he claimed was the result of a medical disorder. That disorder is called “parasomnia.”
Fracassi also spoke during the hearing. With tears running down his face, he read from a piece of paper.
“I know there is nothing I can say or do that can possible say how sorry I am for the pain I have caused you. No way to express the remorse I carry all day, every day, all day long.”
Fracassi told the court that he doesn’t deserve forgiveness, nor does he expect it.
“I offer my deepest and most sincere apologies and condolences whole heartedly. If I could turn back time I would do everything differently. But I cannot turn back time.”
The Crown asked the judge for a sentence of seven to nine years, saying it’s not the time for leniency.
However, the defence is hoping for a sentence between three and six years. They argued that Fracassi has accepted responsibility and that the judge should look at all the good things in his life.
Fracassi will be sentenced on Jan. 3.
