By Taylor MacPherson

Impaired driver sentenced for striking pedestrians

Jul 31, 2017 | 2:00 PM

An Ahtahkakoop man who clipped two pedestrians with his SUV while drunk was given a year-long conditional sentence, thousands in fines, and a harsh lecture from a judge on Monday morning.

Keyano Ahenakew pleaded guilty to a swath of criminal charges including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, impaired operation of a motor vehicle, and assault with a weapon in connection to an incident from the early hours of July 9.

Ahenakew was driving a down a dirt road on Mistawasis First Nation with a group of friends, Crown prosecutor Gail Douglas said, when two of the passengers got out after an argument. Ahenakew, who had been drinking at a wedding earlier in the night, turned around and drove by again at high speed, clipping both pedestrians and causing minor injuries. Douglas said one of the victims estimated Ahenakew’s speed to be more than 100 km/h, and said he did not stop after striking them.

Defence lawyer Rebecca Crookshanks said Ahenakew wanted to take responsibility for his actions, and was willing to complete programming for addictions and anger management.

Based on a joint submission by the Crown and defence, Judge Robert Mackenzie sentenced Ahenakew to a 12-month sentence order with conditions prohibiting him from possessing or consuming any alcohol or non-prescription drugs. Ahenakew, who also pleaded guilty to lesser charges on several unrelated matters, was also banned from all bars and liquor stores and will be required to keep to a nightly curfew. He was also given a one-year driving prohibition and fined a total of $2,130.

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“You are very, very fortunate that things didn’t turn out different,” Mackenzie said to Ahenakew. “You could very easily have killed them.”

Mackenzie said Ahenakew should consider himself lucky that nobody was seriously injured by his recklessness, and said he must get control of his alcohol consumption.

“You’ve got to beat that bottle or you’re going to kill someone,” he said.

taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews