By Canadian Press

Supreme Court will be asked to hear appeal from man who crashed into patio

Oct 13, 2016 | 12:15 AM

EDMONTON — A man who crashed his SUV onto an Edmonton restaurant patio, killing a young boy, is appealling his sentence to the Supreme Court.

Richard Suter was originally sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to failing to provide a breath sample when there is a death.

Earlier this year, the Alberta Court of Appeal upped that sentence to 26 months.

The application to have the case heard by the Supreme Court will argue the sentence should be returned to the original four months.

Court heard the 62-year-old retired businessman had been arguing with his wife while parking his SUV in May 2013, and mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake.

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Two-year-old Geo Mounsef, who was having dinner with his parents and baby brother, was pinned against a wall and died.

Following the crash, Suter was beaten up by a mob and was later abducted from his home by three masked men and had a thumb cut off.

The Appeal Court said it took the vigilante violence into consideration but that Suter was a mature man with life experience who made a choice not to provide a breath sample to officers after the accident.

Suter testified at his sentencing hearing that he had three drinks over four hours before the crash, but wasn’t drunk. The sentencing judge agreed that Suter wasn’t impaired at the time and was given bad legal advice to refuse a breathalyzer test.

(CTV Edmonton)

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Supreme Court will be asked to hear appeal from man who crashed into patio

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