A Surrey provincial court judge has sentenced Harinder Singh Sihota to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing bodily harm to two people, dangerous driving and failing to remain at the scene of a crash that occurred late at night on Sept. 16, 2023.
With credit for time served, Sihota has 874 days left to serve.
Judge Reginald Harris also ordered Sihota, a 41-year-old heavy duty mechanic, to pay to victims Stacey Johnson $26,845.98 and Krystle Zimmer $12,543.07 in “readily ascertainable” restitution by Dec. 31, 2030.
Sihota left the scene of the crash after hitting three vehicles, then drove through Surrey and Delta at very high speeds, Harris noted in his reasons for sentence, with Sihota “often driving directly towards other vehicles on the road, including into oncoming traffic.
“He drove directly towards pedestrians on multiple occasions. Witnesses described his actions as purposeful, intentional and ‘Grand Theft Auto kind of driving.’ He continued to drive that way for some time even after his vehicle was severely damaged and had caught fire. In all, Mr. Sihota caused 13 collisions resulting in injuries of varying degrees to nine people.”
Zimmer sustained a broken neck, a fractured skull, and brain injuries. Four of Johnson’s ribs were broken.
Harris noted that while Zimmer was employed at the time he was not provided with information as to where she worked or what her job was, making it difficult for him to calculate her reimbursement. “I can certainly conclude that Ms. Zimmer lost her ability to work because of Mr. Sihota’s crime. But, I cannot say that the amount she seeks with respect to loss of income is capable of ready calculation,” the judge said. “I sympathize with Ms. Zimmer and acknowledge that she has likely not been made whole by ICBC’s calculations.”
He said the matter is “certainly open to Ms. Zimmer to seek a remedy in a civil court.”
Harris concluded that no sentence “can undo Mr. Sihota’s actions and truly put these victims back in the position they were before this terrible crime,” which he described as a “rampage.
“Ms. Zimmer and her family still have a long road ahead of them with respect to her medical issues and they still do not know where that road will lead. But, it is this court’s hope that, with the imposition of this sentence, which is a significant one, they can begin to find some closure and move forward to a certain extent, knowing the criminal proceedings are behind them.”
The court heard Sihota became addicted to crystal meth in 2017 and in 2018, his parents sent him to a treatment facility in India but he relapsed upon returning to Canada. “It is agreed that Mr. Sihota was in active addiction at the time of the offences,” Harris noted.
“He has expressed remorse and regret for his actions on the day of the offences and says there is nothing that can justify his actions or make things right. He recognizes that the offences altered their lives and says he does not feel any punishment is enough compared to what he did to Ms. Johnson and Ms. Zimmer.”
Sihota wrote a letter of apology, the judge said, “although his victims have chosen not to receive it.”
Harris described Sihota’s driving that night as aggressive and violent. “He repeatedly drove into oncoming traffic and randomly and purposefully drove directly at other cars and pedestrians. He ran red lights and drove with no headlights on, often through residential areas.”
He also noted when delivering sentence that Sihota has a “significant driving record, including multiple entries related to driving while under the influence of drugs. It is particularly aggravating that his last 24-hour prohibition relating to driving and drug use occurred a mere two and a half months before these offences.”
The Crown argued for a federal prison sentence of four years while the defence submitted a provincial sentence in the range of 18 months to two years less a day “is a fit and just sentence.”
The judge also prohibited Sihota from driving for five years after he gets out of prison.
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