We waited for almost two years for justice in the death of our son, Joel Reimer.
What a joke. George Young originally was charged with second-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death and leaving the scene without providing aid to our son.
When Justice Geoffrey Barrow went on at length about how bad a person Young was, with 37 previous convictions, 14 of them with jail time and the last two for aggravated assault, I thought this man understood and we would finally get justice for the deliberate killing of our son.
The judge stated Young had to have known Joel was under the van and continued in a reckless fashion. He also stated Young would have been looking for our son after the fight which Young started.
Young said our son jumped on the hood of the van Young was driving, and when this happened, he panicked.
Having been in jail so many times and being so much bigger than Joel, I highly doubt this man would panic about someone jumping on the hood - besides there was no evidence of damage to the van and only Young's word as to what happened.
The Crown asked for seven to eight years and could have asked for life. The judge gave him double time for the awful conditions in Kamloops Remand and having to share his cell. He sentenced him to five and a half years for dragging our son to his death and one year for leaving the scene.
Judge Barrow could have set a precedent but chose to go with even less than the status quo.
We feel he did this so that there would be no chance of an appeal. The defence and Young are happy and he freed up court time for something else and to hell with our family.
Crown counsel also asked for a 20-year driving prohibition. Barrow stated although Young was a recidivist criminal, his driving record was not that bad. He had just sentenced Young for using a van to drag our son to death and leaving the scene and then states his driving record is not that bad.
Two weeks ago in Penticton, a man was given eight years for robbing banks and we wonder what the hell has happened to justice in this country when someone can kill a person and receive less than a bank robber.
We as a family have no faith in our justice system and even less in the asses who dispense it.
Terry Reimer,
Kelowna