A Prince George Provincial Court judge sentenced a man to 220 days in jail and two years probation on Nov. 21.
Ralph Dominic Alec, 62, pleaded guilty to the criminal offence of driving while disqualified and breaching a release order. Alec was also banned from driving for five years.
The Crown stayed two counts of breach of release order and two Motor Vehicle Act offences, driving while prohibited/licence suspended and driving while driver's licence is suspended.
“I just want to make sure I understand this,” Judge Michael Brecknell said to Crown prosecutor Permeet Randhawa. “We have this gentleman who, even before these offences, as you've described it, has six impaired convictions, seven driving while prohibited or disqualified. Put aside his other types of criminal behaviour, these criminal convictions for intoxicated driving or driving while prohibited start 16 years ago, continued without abatement until the end of the seven-page criminal history.”
Randhawa had earlier detailed evidence from four incidents, in January and December 2023, April of this year, and the most recent, Oct. 27, 2024, when he was caught driving a 2006 Dodge Dakota that belonged to his unlicensed wife.
Randhawa said that Alec had been banned for driving for five years beginning in September 2022, was not to be found in the driver’s seat of any vehicle and was also subject to curfew conditions between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. But the multiple court orders and conditions governing his behaviour “don't seem to have the desired deterrent effect.”
“It's a crime that affects everyone who drives, or knows anyone who drive, and it makes the roads a more dangerous place for everyone,” Randhawa said. “This is an offence for which denunciation and deterrence should be the primary principle of sentencing.”
Randhawa conceded that Alec was largely cooperative with officers when pulled over, giving his name and admitting that he had been prohibited from driving. He has also had a difficult life with multiple traumas, as a residential school survivor who struggled with alcohol and lost his father to a drunk driver as an adult.
“The Crown believes that a step-up is warranted from his last sentence,” he said.
Bob Mackin's court reporting is funded by the Local Journalism Initiative.
