Driver handed four month jail term for hitting Vernon pedestrian

A driver who was stabbed after he hit a Vernon pedestrian with his car was sentenced Friday to four months in jail.

With credit for time served since his arrest Abd’L-Malik Loubissi-Morris has 39 days remaining behind bars.

The 21-year-old was convicted of dangerous driving and possession of fentanyl.

READ MORE: Court hears testimony on ‘bizarre’ 2016 incident where vehicle hit Vernon pedestrian, driver was stabbed

The charges stem from what RCMP called a “bizarre and violent incident” on 27 Avenue in Vernon in February 2016 when Loubissi-Morris struck a pedestrian he didn’t know named Lisa David.

Loubissi-Morris was then stabbed by David’s boyfriend, Thomas Ritchie.

In handing down her sentence, Madam Justice Brenda Brown said Loubissi-Morris intentionally accelerated at speed “across a public sidewalk into an area where, on his own evidence, he know three people had been standing. He hit Ms. David causing her significant injury. His driving abstract also demonstrates a cavalier attitude to the rules of the road which continued after this incident.”

Justice Brown rejected the idea of a conditional sentence, also known as house-arrest, saying she wasn’t satisfied a community sentence would ensure the safety of the community and be consistent with the purposes and principals of sentencing.

READ MORE: Vernon trial hears conflicting testimony from pinned pedestrian, stabbed driver

“Even if he had not known that people had been standing in the area, his driving was very dangerous given the location and the likelihood that pedestrians would be in the area,” Justice Brown said.

“This conduct is more blame worthy than those convicted of dangerous driving where a momentary lapse causes catastrophic results including death. Mr. Loubissi-Morris was stopped in his car when he decided to hit the gas and accelerate across the sidewalk. His driving was intentional.”

In addition to the jail term, Loubissi-Morris will also handed two years of probation and a two year driving prohibition.

In October 2016, Ritchie was sentenced to two years of probation for assault with a weapon.

Ritchie’s attack on Loubissi-Morris was characterized at Ritchie’s sentencing as an effort to save his girlfriend that went too far.