His five victims didn’t stand a chance.
In a lengthy judgment delivered over Zoom, Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael Code said he didn’t believe a word of excuses or alternate theories proposed by Matharu and convicted him on four counts of criminal negligence causing death and one causing bodily harm.
“He knew that driving on insufficient sleep put public safety, and his own safety, at risk. He simply chose to take the risk, apparently giving his own financial self-interest priority,” Code said.
Matharu, 40, had been driving for 26 hours to deliver a 21,500 kilo-trailer of pork to the Maple Leaf Foods plant in Hannon, near Hamilton. He had been told to get there “ASAP.”
TORONTO A long-haul truck driver has been found guilty of criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm in a fiery crash on Highway 400 in June 2016 that claimed the lives of four people. Superior Court Justice Michael Code delivered his 46-page verdict over zoom on Friday, finding 40-year-old Sarbjit Matharu guilty of four counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm in the deadly 11-vehicle pile-up that occurred on the southbound lanes of the Highway 400 near Sheppard Avenue shortly before 10 p.m. on June 24, 2016. “I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Matharu’s manner of driving his Volvo tractor-trailer was the immediate cause of the escalating collision,” Justice Code ruled.
Truck driver found guilty of criminal negligence causing death in 2016 crash that killed 4 people
A truck driver has been found guilty of criminal negligence causing death in the fiery crash that killed four people on Highway 400 in June of 2016.
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Posted: Apr 30, 2021 6:20 PM ET | Last Updated: April 30
A devastating crash on Highway 400 killed three generations of women from one family, from left: Valbona Vokshi, 35, Isabela Kuci, 5, and Xhemile Vokshi, 55. Also killed was Maria Lipska, right, who was just 27 at the time of the crash. (GoFundMe/Facebook)
A truck driver has been found guilty of criminal negligence causing death in the fiery crash that killed four people including three generations of women from one family on Highway 400 in June of 2016.
Author of the article: Michele Mandel
Publishing date: Mar 11, 2021 • March 11, 2021 • 3 minute read • Ramiz Vokshi, husband of Xhemile Vokshi, (left), and Albert Sufa, husband of Blerta Vokshi are seen during a news conference in Toronto on Wednesday, June 29, 2016. Five-year-old Isabela Kuci, her mother 35-year-old Valbona Vokshi, and her grandmother 55-year-old Xhemile Vokshi were killed in a crash on Highway 400. Photo by KEVIN VAN PAASSEN /POSTMEDIA NETWORK FILE
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First, she heard the rumble, like the roar of an approaching storm.
“What happened?” she asked rhetorically. “What happened is what I was never prepared for in my whole life.”
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