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Friday, November 1, 2013
Malahat gets $15 million in safety upgrades
Crown urges two year sentence in Pompeo assault
Peter W. Rusland
Don Bodger
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News Leader Pictorial
News Leader Pictorial
alahat’s fire chief was delightfully surprised by Wednesday’s news Victoria is funding another 2.3 kilometres of the concrete medians on dangerous Malahat Drive — including along the deadly ‘NASCAR Corner.’ But Rob Patterson doubted Premier Christy Clark’s new $15-million fix — starting next year to finsh barriers on about half the Malahat — will stop all carnage. “Speed’s not the problem — the problem is the drivers, whether it’s a mechanical failure, driving distracted, or tailing too close,” he said, lamenting ugly chain-reaction crashes. Patterson applauded more barriers to curb cross-over crashes, but hoped he can pinpoint, for highways’ engineers, other places needing urgent safety upgrades. “There’s also the corner at the Malahat (Petrocan) gas station; that’s a horrendous corner and we’ve been there time and time again.” This week’s $15 million will help save taxpayers’ lives for several years, but Patterson touted fully dividing and twinning the Malahat. He reckoned that fix would cost the public upward of $400 million. “There would be an impact on the environment, no doubt about that.” Chicken Wrap Meal But given steadily climbing ‘Hat traffic, Grilled or Patterson visualized anCrispy inland highway linking with Nanaimo’s bypass, to handle truck and business traffic. The current turnpike would become a scenic route. Meanwhile, Patterson will take all measures necessary to save lives and prevent more wrecks. “IfStrip we have an event here, I’m still goc. Chicken Meal ing to shut the highway down.” The best solution, he suggested, is getting vehicles off the Malahat by creating more commuting and traveller transporAndrew Leong tation options. Isaac Antoine shows a six-pound coho salmon that he caught from the Cowichan River by white bridge on Allenby Road on Deluxe Cheeseburge Cheeseburger Mealon page 4 Upgrade Q4 – OCTOBER – 2013 – CANADA more Tuesday, Oct. 22
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jail sentence in the range of 18 months to two years less a day is appropriate for Const. David Pompeo, Crown prosecutor Carmen Rogers submitted Thursday in Duncan Provincial Court. A scheduled two-day sentencing hearing opened with Rogers presenting her arguments on sentencing for Pompeo to Judge Josiah Wood. Due to the enormous volume of material, it was unlikely Wood would make a decision by the end of the day Friday. Pompeo was convicted on Valentine’s Day this year of aggravated assault for shooting Bill Gillespie in September of 2009, but has yet to be sentenced as those proceedings reached the 8 1/2-month mark on David Pompeo: Halloween. arguments made “Aggravated assault by its nature is a very grave offence,’’ Rogers stressed to Wood. Rogers and defence lawyer Ravi Hira both submitted piles of documents to the court before the proceedings began. Rogers outlined her position first, with Hira to follow. Rogers also submitted Gillespie’s victimimpact statement for consideration. She said the ordeal has been significant to Gillespie physically (with the bullet still lodged in him), emotionally and financially. “This is obviously an extremely difficult case,’’ said Rogers in her opening statement. She said Pompeo has many mitigating factors put before the court, but those must be balanced with the law. Together with case law, Rogers said it sets a general range of sentencing for aggravated assault. “One of the main issues on sorting all this out you’re going to have to determine is what to make of the Crown submission that this is a breach of trust case against my friend’s submission that this is not a breach of trust case,’’ Rogers told Wood. “Police officers are in a position of trust by virtue of their positions as police officers.’’ she said. more on page 3
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