A 24-year-old New Brunswick man has been sentenced to two years in prison for driving drunk, running down and killing Wray Hart in south-end Halifax in January 2018.
Dennis Donald James Patterson had pleaded guilty in September to impaired driving causing death and before sentencing in Halifax provincial court Thursday, he said he was sorry.
“I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for my actions … and I assure you that it won’t happen again,” Patterson, from Quispamsis, N.B., said to the court and Hart’s family and friends as Patterson’s mother sobbed in the gallery.
“I would also like to acknowledge the harm that I caused.”
The harm that Patterson caused came from driving his 2007 Toyota Corrolla southbound on Queen Street at about 3 a.m., on Jan. 27, 2018, after consuming what was extrapolated to be more than twice the legal amount of alcohol, according to an agreed statement of facts.
The Corolla was travelling at 89 kilometres per hour in a 50-km/h zone when it sped through the intersection of Queen and South streets, before striking Wray, 62, who was walking on the side of the roadway near 1083 Queen, pushing a shopping cart containing recyclable bottles and cans that he had been collecting.
As Patterson approached 1083 Queen, witnesses say he lost control of the vehicle, directly hitting Hart and then a wooden pole. The pole was completely severed and Hart’s body was pinned underneath Patterson’s vehicle.
Paramedics told police a short time later that Hart was dead, and the cause of death was subsequently determined to be blunt-force injuries to his neck.
'He knows he has to go to jail'
Hart was a familiar presence in Halifax’s south end, where he was regularly seen collecting recyclables and hanging out near the former library at the corner of Spring Garden Road and Brunswick Street.
Crown attorneys Melanie Perry and Sean McCarroll had requested a four-year prison term and an eight-year driving prohibition. Defence lawyer Stan MacDonald argued that two years in prison and a two-year driving ban would be appropriate.
MacDonald asked that the sentence reflect the gravity of the event while allowing that Patterson’s actions were an isolated incident. The defence lawyer described Patterson as a person of good character who comes from a strong and supportive family. MacDonald said his client has tried to use his time since the fatal crash productively, seeking counselling for depression and anxiety, completing his master’s degree in business at Saint Mary’s University and working part- and full-time.
“Mr. Patterson put himself in a position that when he comes out of jail, and he knows that he has to go to jail, that he can be productive and live a life that reflects the fact that he has actually learned from his mistake, this offence that he’s committed,” MacDonald said.
Perry said that no matter how great a person Patterson turns out to be after his release from prison, “we have to send a clear message,” that actions can have clear, and sometimes severe consequences.
Large impact
Perry said an aggravating circumstance in the case was the harm done to survivors and the community as a whole. She read from four victim-impact statements from Hart’s family, beginning with his sister, Betty Kerr, who described Hart as her oldest brother and best friend.
“No more picnics at the library on Sunday, no more movie nights or suppers or calling me every night because he was bored,” Perry read from Kerr’s statement.
“I am the luckiest person in the world for having you in mine and my kids’ lives for 27 years living with us.”
Kerr had earlier explained that despite a popular perception, Hart wasn’t homeless and that he stayed at her house several days each week before getting his own place for the last year of his life.
Anthony Hart, Wray’s 36-year-old son, said in his statement that he is always angry and sad when he walks to work past the library, knowing that his father’s life was taken the way it was.
“A lot of people miss him,” Hart wrote.
Gary (Caesar) Julien, Hart’s friend, recited his own impact statement.
“He really cared for those who were kind to him and he showed it in many ways,” Julien said. “Many of Halifax’s runaways and homeless would tell you that he was there for them. Many called him Uncle Wray. He would always check on those who were in need, making sure that they had food, clothing, blankets and even cigarettes. He once went into an abandoned building that was on fire, risking his life to save squatters who had made it a temporary home.”
Since his friend's death, Julien said he has read countless posts online lauding Hart as a generous and caring person.
“This is a sad day,” Judge Gregory Lenehan said in handing down his decision. “Jan. 27, 2018, was even a sadder day. That’s the day Wray Elias Hart was killed. It was not the result of an accident. He was the victim of a criminal act. Dennis Donald Patterson took control of a motor vehicle when his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit and decided to drive on the streets of Halifax. In such circumstances, that motor vehicle became a lethal weapon.”
Lenehan said Hart was an innocent pedestrian.
“He should have been safe pushing his shopping cart along the street at 3 in the morning, but he wasn’t.”
Along with the two-year prison sentence, Lenehan imposed three years of probation to follow the jail time and a three-year driving prohibition to begin when the prison term ends. Patterson’s DNA profile will be added to a national databank and he has been ordered not to consume any alcohol or other intoxicating substances prior to Nov. 21, 2022.
The judge also ordered Patterson to perform 50 hours of community service before Nov. 21, 2023, to address the dangers and consequences of impaired driving through a public-service educational campaign or public speaking engagements at schools or other educational settings.
“This condition is not intended to continue to shame or humiliate Mr. Patterson, it is meant to serve the purpose of allowing Mr. Patterson to make a positive contribution to the efforts to curb impaired driving.”
Lenehan said that order has greater potential as a deterrent than putting Patterson in prison for a longer period of time.
Outside court, Anthony Hart said it’s important to remember his father every day.
“He took responsibility for what he did,” Hart said of Patterson. “Hopefully this gets across everywhere that it is not OK to drink and drive because it does take somebody’s life, it does hurt a lot of people.”
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