SURREY - A Surrey man who killed an elderly man when he smashed his brother's Corvette into a Surrey bus shelter in 2009 has lost an appeal of his conviction.
Gurjit Dhillon, 28, was found guilty of dangerous driving causing the death of 83-year-old Surrey grandfather Pritam Singh Benning, 83, at 72nd Avenue and 128th Street, on Sept. 9, 2009.
Benning's legs were crushed, and he later died in hospital. The crash happened at rush hour, in heavy traffic when a lot of pedestrians were around. Benning had been sitting at the bus shelter.
Dhillon was sentenced to one year in jail following a trial in Surrey provincial court last year. The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld the conviction Friday morning, in Vancouver.
Before Judge Jim Jardine sentenced him,
Dhillon had apologized to the victim's family.
"Every morning when I get up, I wonder if there's something more I could have done to save Mr. Benning," Dhillon told the court. "It kills me inside to know there is nothing I can do to make things better. It will live with me for the rest of my life."
"I'm really sorry," he told Benning's family. "I just wish I stayed home that day."
During the sentencing hearing, Crown prosecutor Chris McPherson noted the case centered on "a young man showing off, effectively, in this vehicle."
Jardine said he found Dhillon's remorse to be "readily apparent." He tattooed Benning's name on his arm.
Before passing sentence, Jardine advised Dhillon that if he wants to honour Benning's memory, he needs to accept responsibility for his crime and "move forward.
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