Milton driver high on alcohol and drugs get five years in jail for killing Mississauga man
Published July 21, 2021 at 8:26 pm
A Milton resident who was impaired by alcohol and drugs has been given a five year jail sentence for killing a Mississauga man and injuring another in a 2017 car crash.
In sentencing 35-year-old Azar Sheikh, Madam Justice Jennifer Woollcombe said that too many people make “risky choices” when they get behind the wheel of a car when impaired.
She said the lives of family and friends of the victims are permanently affected, “because someone else’s poor choices took from them something that can never be replaced.
On Sept. 14, 2017 Sheik’s BMW collided with a Toyota Highlander at the intersection of Mavis and Bristol Rds. just after 1 a.m.
The Highlander was driven by Diosdada Pascual, then 58, who was returning home from work with his passenger and best friend Rustico Gamat, 66.
Gamat was pronounced dead at the scene and Pascual suffered life-threatening injuries. Pascual recovered but is still handicapped by his injuries.
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During Sheikh’s trial court heard he had a high blood alcohol level and was driving 112 km/hr in a 70 km/zone and was trying to engage others to race with him. During his trial the judge noted that he had also consumed MDMA which is also known as ecstasy.
Sheikh had three prior convictions for speeding and two convictions for disobeying street signs and already had been prohibited from driving for three years and 10 months.
After his trial in March, Sheikh was found guilty of impaired operation of a vehicle, criminal negligence and dangerous operation of vehicle for Gamat’s death. As well, he was also found guilty of impaired operation of vehicle, criminal negligence and dangerous operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm for Pascual’s injuries.
On Wednesday he was sentenced to one five-year prison term and a four-year prison term to be served concurrently.
He is also facing a six-year driving band and must submit to a DNA test.
(Photo: Mississauga’s Rustico Gamat was killed in 2017 crash)
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