The Memory Project seeks vets’ stories page 12
Sewer clogs costing millions page 3
Tuesday November 6, 2012
Serving Surrey and North Delta www.surreyleader.com
Driver gets 90 days for fatal crash
An outcast of a kid who became an RCMP officer, Const. Tad Milmine shares his story to help youth
Surrey cop takes aim at bullying
Avinash Prasad has lengthy record of driving infractions by Sheila Reynolds
by Sheila Reynolds IT WAS Oct. 17 of last year and Surrey’s Tad Milmine had settled in
for the night. Like every other evening, he pulled out his iPhone to read the news before going to sleep. The story of Jamie Hubley was making international headlines. And his tragic tale struck Milmine at his core. “I was paralyzed,” Milmine recalls. “I was frozen in my bed.” It brought him back to when he was five and dreamed of being a police officer so he could help people. He read more about Jamie, an openly gay Ontario teen who had committed suicide after struggling for years with depression and relentless bullying. “Here’s this 15-year-old boy, who is everything that I wished I had been – outgoing, happy, positive, trying to change people’s attitudes towards homosexuality.” In contrast, Milmine, now 38, was a “horrifically” introverted and shy child. He didn’t have anyone to talk to, cried all the time and was taunted as a teen. The bullying incidents haunted him for years, despite being “mild” compared to what victims today face in the fast-paced world of social media and technology. “Reading about Jamie, I remember thinking I had to do something,” said Milmine. He began by creating a website (www.bullyingendshere.ca) to tell his story and Jamie’s, and hopefully, be a help to struggling youth. Last spring, he started speaking at schools in B.C. and Ontario and from the response he received, knew his unique perspective could make a difference. See OFFICER / Page 3
THE DRIVER responsible for a 2009 crash where his speeding car lost control, launched into the air and landed on another, killing a man, has been sentenced to 90 days in jail. Avinash Prasad, 31, is also banned from driving for four years and was fined $2,000 for the collision that killed 42-year-old father-of-two, Sean Arland. Prasad was initially charged with dangerous driving causing death, to which he pleaded not guilty. He later pleaded guilty to an offence under the Motor Vehicle Act involving driving without due care and attention, without reasonable consideration for other persons and at an excessive speed. He was 27 on the morning of March 28, 2009 when he was driving near 176 Street on 64 Avenue. He was seen by witnesses to be speeding and changing lanes as he approached the intersection. As he changed lanes to pass another car, he hit a road curb, overcompensated and veered across both lanes of the road. According to a recent sentencing report, he then hit a small cement centre median with such force and speed that his car was “rendered airborne” and came down on Arland’s car. Arland was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witness to crash noted Prasad was driving “like an idiot.”
EVAN SEAL / THE LEADER
Surrey RCMP Const. Tad Milmine was profoundly impacted by the news of a 15-year-old boy committing suicide after being bullied. Milmine decided to reach out to youth who are also being taunted.
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Save time, save money.
See THE LOSS / Page 3
On the prowl again.