A Dartmouth man has been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for a drunk-driving crash that killed his own brother.
Lincoln Flemming MacLellan, 48, was sentenced in Nova Scotia Supreme Court Thursday afternoon. He had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of impaired driving causing death.
The charge relates to an incident in Chezzetcook, N.S., in October, 2015. RCMP received a 911 call on a Sunday afternoon.
According to an agreed statement of facts read at MacLellan's sentencing, the crash occurred on Highway 7. Witnesses reported a black Dodge SUV that passed a dump truck on a double line going uphill.
Expert estimated a speed of 130 km/h
When he crested the hill, the dump-truck driver saw the SUV on its roof in the oncoming lane. The speed limit on that stretch of highway is 70 kilometres per hour.
An accident reconstruction expert estimated MacLellan was travelling at about 130 km/h. The expert said it appeared the SUV hit the ditch and the driver overcorrected, causing the vehicle to roll over and slide along the roadway on its roof.
A witness helped cut MacLellan out of the wreckage. MacLellan's younger brother, John, was trapped in the passenger seat. He was unresponsive.
The Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service later determined that John MacLellan died of blunt force injuries to his head and neck.
Empty beer cans near the wreckage
"Just egregious; I can't imagine," Crown prosecutor Melanie Perry said outside court. "It's a miracle that no one else was killed."
Police reported there were empty beer cans in the vehicle and strewn around the wreckage. When one officer asked MacLellan how he was, he reportedly responded, 'I just killed my brother.'"
MacLellan failed a roadside breath test. A later test at hospital found he had more than double the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream.
In a victim impact statement read into the record by the Crown, Faith O'Hara, the mother of the MacLellan brothers, said, 'I feel as if this has taken two sons from me.'"
'I can only imagine the extent of the agony'
O'Hara added that her heart hurts every day and the crash has caused a rift in her family.
"I can only imagine the extent of the agony," Justice Timothy Gabriel said in passing sentence.
"There's nothing that the court can do to punish you to bring your brother back," the judge said.
The Crown had asked for a sentence of five years. MacLellan's lawyer said three years would be sufficient.
But the judge said this case calls for a strong message of deterrence to both the public in general and MacLellan in particular.
"I'm not entirely satisfied that you get the message," Gabriel said.
The Crown was pleased with the sentence.
"We want the public to look at this kind of sentence and know that if they drive while impaired and kill someone, there's going to be significant repercussions for it," Perry said.
Family pulled apart
MacLellan declined an invitation to address the court. But his lawyer said his client is remorseful and still trying to come to terms with the death of his brother.
"There's no question that adds to the tragedy, certainly," Colin Coady said outside court.
"His brother died as the result. Their family's been torn apart. That will weigh heavily on Mr. MacLellan for the rest of his life and I think that needs to be remembered."
While this case was making its way through the courts, MacLellan was convicted of refusing the breathalyzer in another incident. He got a 30-day sentence and one-year driving ban for that conviction.
After he completes his latest prison sentence, MacLellan will be banned from driving for a further 10 years.