A 49-year-old B.C. man has been sentenced to six years in jail and banned from driving for 35 years for crashing his car while driving high on methamphetamine, killing his seven-year-old son and injuring other members of his family.
According to a ruling by Provincial Court Judge Ted Gouge, Matthew Darlington ingested methamphetamine at about 7 p.m. on Sept. 6 while returning to Vancouver Island from Vancouver. He also smoked cannabis after arriving on Vancouver Island at about 11 p.m.
Just before 2 a.m. on Sept. 7, the car Darlington was driving left the highway near Sooke and crashed into a tree. His wife was in the passenger seat and their three children, ages seven, eight and 10 were in the rear seat.
The court ruling said all of the occupants were injured and the seven-year-old died of his injuries in hospital at 6:40 a.m. on Sept. 7.
“Mr. Darlington has no memory of the crash, and appears to have been unconscious at the time,” Gouge wrote in his ruling.
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“He admits that his ability to drive was impaired by the drugs which he had consumed. Counsel agrees that users of methamphetamine often become drowsy when the stimulative effects of the drug begin to recede.”
Darlington has a criminal record, which includes convictions for acts of violence and threats of violence. He was previously convicted of driving while prohibited eight times between 2011 and 2019, and again in 2022. He was also under a driving prohibition at the time of the 2021 fatal crash, according to Gouge’s ruling.
“Mr. Darlington’s disdain for court orders is also demonstrated by his convictions for breaches of recognizances of bail and probation orders, twice in 2013, once in 2015, twice in 2017, and twice in 2018,” Gouge continued.
“His disobedience of past driving prohibitions demonstrates that he will probably continue to drive, no matter what order I make. His lengthy and serious driving history demonstrates that, when driving, he puts others at constant risk. As a consequence, the only way in which I can protect the public from him is to order his incarceration.”
Gouge also wrote that Darlington was not a good role model for his surviving children. “I do not believe that any contribution which he can make to his children’s upbringing could outweigh the need to protect the public, including his children, from the risk which he will pose to public safety if he is not in custody.”
Gouge’s sentence came in at the top end of the Crown’s request for a sentence of five to six years. He also more than doubled the Crown’s recommendation for a 15-year driving ban, calling it “manifestly insufficient.”
“Mr. Darlington should never again drive a motor vehicle,” Gouge wrote.
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