ST. THOMAS, Ont. - An Ontario man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for impaired driving that caused the deaths of a woman with P.E.I. connections and her five-year-old daughter.
The London Free Press has reported that family and friends of victims Sarah Payne, 42, and her daughter Freya were in the St. Thomas, Ont., courtroom Monday to hear a judge hand down Hubert Domonchuk’s sentence.
Domonchuk, 54, previously pleaded guilty to seven charges, including two counts of impaired driving causing death, two counts of dangerous driving causing death, and one count each of impaired driving and dangerous driving causing bodily harm stemming from the 2017 collision.
The newspaper reported that Sarah’s father, stepmother and stepsisters from P.E.I. attended the sentencing and provided victim impact statements.
Her stepsister Rebecca Nicholson spoke of “an emptiness that will never be filled” and described a “family torn at the edges,” said the newspaper, while Sarah’s father, Dave Miles, also spoke of his grief and said losing two special people was a sentence without parole.
“That is my sentence. Mine is a life sentence,” he said.
At about 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2017, Domonchuk’s Ford F-250 crossed the Highway 401 median and slammed head-on into Payne’s minivan. Both Sarah and Freya died as a result of the collision.
Sarah’s six-year-old son William Payne was also in the vehicle. He was treated for fractures to his skull, back, clavicle, arms and other injuries to his face, arms, torso and legs.
A blood analysis later showed Domonchuk had a blood-alcohol concentration of between 60 and 90 milligrams in 100 millilitres of blood at the time of the crash. Domonchuk also had 43 Highway Traffic Act convictions prior to the collision.
The court heard Domonchuk’s pickup was travelling at about 120 km/h when he hit the minivan.
Sarah was an occupational therapist at London’s Parkwood Institute. She was married to Michael Payne, medical director of Parkwood’s regional amputee rehabilitation program.
