March 29th, 2024

Fatal drunk-driving case adjourned to June


By Shurtz, Delon on April 17, 2020.

Delon Shurtz

lethbridge herald

dshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 63-year-old Lethbridge man who was expected to resolve his criminal charges this month in relation to a drunk-driving death in 2018, won’t be back in court until early this summer.

Like many cases that are being adjourned because of the COVID-19 pandemic, charges of impaired driving, impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving against Douglas Wilbur Bagnall have been adjourned to June 22 in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench. Bagnall had been scheduled to resolve the charges Thursday, and the Crown and defence were expected to present the judge with an agreed statement of facts.

Bagnall had been committed to stand trial following a preliminary hearing in September in Lethbridge provincial court, and a trial date was to be scheduled during a subsequent hearing. That all changed last December, however, when defence announced it would likely take a different step.

Barnaby Provost was killed in June 2018 after a vehicle driving on the wrong side of Highway 3 collided with his vehicle. Provost’s 12-year-old daughter was also in the vehicle and sustained minor injuries.

Bagnall wasn’t charged until several months later, and then he was released a few days after that on $300 bail. He subsequently failed to show up for court and breached conditions of his bail – resulting in three breach charges – and was finally arrested again at a city hotel in January of last year.

He pleaded guilty to the breach charges and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Edmonton lawyer William Taterchuk asked the judge to sentence his client to 30 days in jail, and said Bagnall only has an IQ of 59 and suffers from memory loss and several mental health issues after years of alcohol abuse.

The judge agreed with the Crown for 60 days in jail, but gave Bagnall credit for the equivalent of 60 days already spent in custody. Bagnall wasn’t released, however, but remained in remand on the driving charges.

When Bagnall returns to court in June, it will likely just be to set a new date to resolve the matter.

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