Two victims of an Ottawa-area man who was found guilty of a hit-and-run that left five cyclists injured say they have trouble forgiving the man despite his claims of remorse.
Sommit Luangpakham, 47, was sentenced on Monday after being found guilty of five charges of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and five charges of leaving the scene of an accident for the July 2009 crash in Kanata, Ont.
He was sentenced to two years less a day in jail.
Despite an apology from Luangpakham in court, victims Cathy Anderson and her partner Robert Wein say it is difficult to forgive the man.
"I think it will haunt me for the rest of my life. There is nothing worse than being broken on a highway and not being able to move and not understanding really what happened," Anderson told CTV Canada AM.
"At this point I am not ready to forgive somebody who I believe has not accepted responsibility for what he has done."
Luangpakham had testified that he fell asleep while driving and thought he hit a post, not a row of cyclists.
The five Kanata cyclists were riding single file in a bicycle lane when they were struck by Luangpakham's van. Four of the five cyclists were seriously hurt.
Two of the victims suffered brain injuries. Wein still requires 24-hour care as a result of his injuries from the crash.
"It is challenging. I have a mobility challenge and my speech is affected, and I close one eye because I see double all the time," he said on Tuesday.
"My only wish is that he was found guilty, and he (has been). The punishment is a technicality actually. It is better than nothing. He is guilty… that is what I wished for and it came true."
Justice Monique Mativier gave Luangpakham nine months for dangerous driving and 15 months for leaving the scene of the accident, both to be served consecutively.
The sentence falls short of the Crown's request for a four-year prison sentence. The defence had requested an 18-month sentence.
Anderson said the sentence was about what she had expected after studying the results of similar cases, adding that she was neither disappointed nor relieved that the man had escaped a harsher sentence.
"I didn't exactly hope one way or the other. I'm not the kind of person who would wish something negative on someone else. A sentence of this kind is a negative impact on anyone, although necessary in many cases," she said.
