A two-day sentencing hearing set to begin Wednesday has been delayed until November for the man convicted of dangerous and impaired driving that left one woman dead and her sister seriously injured.
Earlier this year, Anthony Thomas was found guilty of impaired driving causing death and bodily harm and dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm.
He was driving south down Central Saanich Road on Aug. 17, 2018, when he veered across the roadway and into the opposite boulevard, striking sisters Tracey, 48, and Kim Ward, 51, who were out walking their dogs. Kim was pronounced dead at the scene, while Tracey survived with injuries requiring 24-hour care for the rest of her life.
During his trial, a toxicologist testified that samples of Thomas’ blood contained 297 nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml) of methamphetamine, 39 ng/ml of amphetamine and 14 ng/ml of alprazolam – commonly known as Xanax – at the time of the collision. She described the level of methamphetamine as significant and said if an individual was in the “crash phase” of ingesting it, they would experience extreme drowsiness.
In March, a judge was convinced Thomas was impaired at the time of the crash and had fallen asleep at the wheel. If driving after voluntarily ingesting drugs wasn’t enough, shortly before Thomas struck the Ward sisters, he rear-ended a different woman in her vehicle. This, the judge determined, would have been an indicator to a reasonable driver that they shouldn’t be on the road.
Finally, Thomas was found guilty of causing an accident resulting in death and in bodily harm, facts agreed upon by both the prosecution and defence early on in the trial.
READ: Driver in fatal Central Saanich crash found guilty of impaired, dangerous driving
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