The Port Coquitlam man who killed a 16-year-old pedestrian in a hit-and-run collision in 2013 has been sentenced to four months in jail and a one-year driving ban.
Irwin Franz pleaded guilty last year to failing to remain at the scene of a collision after he struck Annie Leung, a Riverside secondary student, at Pitt River and Mary Hill road.
The 75-year-old’s lawyer had been calling for a fine of between $2,000 and $3,000 while the Crown had sought four to six months behind bars.
In his reasons for the sentence, Justice Pedro de Couto said a period of incarceration is necessary and in line with similar cases. He added that he believes Franz was sincere when he apologized to the family in court earlier this month and that the incident will haunt the man for the rest of his life.
“It is a nightmare that he finds he cannot get out of,” de Couto said in court, “one he will have to wear like an albatross around his neck.”
Leung was walking home from school two and a half years ago when she was struck. Franz stopped and got out of his vehicle to see what had happened before returning to his truck and driving away.
During its submissions, the Crown noted that Franz, who lives less than a kilometre from where the crash occurred, had multiple opportunities to turn himself in to police.
Officers visited his home in the days after the crash, noticing similarities between his truck and the vehicle seen in surveillance footage of the collision. At the time, Franz said he only knew about the hit-and-run from what he had seen in the media.
Police followed his vehicle while a search warrant was sought and the truck was eventually seized.
Twelve days after the collision, Franz, who was being treated for depression and anxiety at the time, checked himself into Royal Columbian Hospital after suffering what the court heard was a “major depressive episode.” He stayed in hospital until Oct. 17 and, when he was released, he made arrangements with his lawyer to come forward to the RCMP.
The family of the victim had the opportunity to address the court during the sentencing hearing earlier this month.
During an emotional address, Maggie Lao, Annie Leung’s mother, said “I have become a mother without a child.
“My painful feeling still make it feel like it happened yesterday… Words can’t describe how this tragedy has impacted me, my husband and my family.”
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