Accused found guilty of careless driving involving 2020 fatality

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on October 13, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 55-year-old Lethbridge man drove over and killed a 10-year-old boy with his SUV more than two years ago because of a momentary lapse of attention, a judge has ruled.

Judge Timothy Hironaka found Neil Martin Skjodt guilty Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court of one count of careless driving under the Traffic Safety Act, an offence liable to a maximum of six months in jail.

Although the Crown sought a 30-day jail sentence, Hironaka disagreed with the recommendation and fined Skjodt $2,000, the maximum amount allowed under the Act.

“I don’t see any point in this situation, given the circumstances of the offence, the circumstances of the offender, where jail will serve any useful purpose,” Hironaka said.

He also rejected a recommendation for a period of probation, but accepted the Crown’s suggestion for a 90-day driving suspension.

Skjodt, who was unable to attend his sentencing hearing because he is in a Calgary hospital, was charged after 10-year-old Charles McIntyre was struck and killed by a motor vehicle April 13, 2020. An SUV turning right onto Whoop-Up Drive near Aquitania Boulevard struck two young boys crossing in the crosswalk with their father. Charles, the older of the two boys, died in the hospital.

Skjodt pleaded not guilty several months later to a single charge of careless driving, and stood trial for five days in August and September. Skjodt testified he did not see the boys and their father when he stopped his vehicle some 50 to 100 metres from the crosswalk.

During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, Crown Prosecutor Lisa Weich said that stopping that distance from the crosswalk prevented Skjodt from seeing if there were any pedestrians on the sidewalk, and then he focused on traffic coming from the other direction.

“The accused chose to drive in a manner that prevented him from being able to see what was clearly there to see,” Weich said. “He knew that his view was obstructed by a fence. He chose to focus on the traffic coming from the east.”

Lethbridge lawyer Greg White asked for a $1,300 fine and a 30-day driving suspension, and said as tragic as the incident is, it was caused by momentary inattention. And during his closing arguments at trial, White argued the boy’s father, Lee McIntyre, did not make eye contact with the driver and that also contributed to the incident.

The boy’s mother, Heather McIntyre, struggled Wednesday to read her victim impact statement in court, but between sobs told court how her son’s death has impacted the family.

“Every moment of every day we think about Charles,” she said. “Our perfect family forever ruined in a single instance. We miss him every single second of every day.”

Heather was also visibly upset that the family had to endure a trial because Skjodt refused to accept responsibility for his actions and pleaded not guilty.

“Our family has not seen or felt any remorse.”

Hironaka expressed his condolences to family members, many of whom also read their victim impact statements, and urged them to focus on the positive things in their lives, and how any of those things were “brought about” by Charles. He suggested the best way to honour Charles is to move forward and live their lives fully and with purpose.

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