A driver who killed a father in a street race in Montreal has been sentenced to four years in prison. The judge strongly denounced the offender’s dangerous driving.
“The death of an innocent person during a street race can be so easily avoided,” said Judge Pierre E. Labelle on Wednesday at the Montreal courthouse. He also condemned the fact that Ilias El Azali “voluntarily and quickly chose to flee the scene”.
Judge Labelle sentenced the accused to four years in prison, as well as a two-year driving ban. He considers this prohibition “necessary”, although it is not mandatory.
The 30-year-old offender pleaded guilty last December to charges of dangerous driving causing death and fatal hit-and-run.
lives turned upside down
“The youngest will not know his father,” said Judge Labelle, who believes that this deadly street race will have long-term consequences for the relatives of the deceased, Kevin Jones-Bynoe.
“The victim was a father, a son, a brother, added the judge. His family will be affected for a long time. »
Judge Labelle offered his most sincere condolences to the relatives of the victim, who were present in the courtroom. “Nothing will change the pain you feel,” he told them. I hope your path is strewn with caring people. »
A “terrible” accident
On November 8, 2020, in the early morning, the taxi in which Kevin Jones-Bynoe was riding was hit head-on by the accused’s vehicle, which was traveling at very high speed.
The collision occurs at an intersection on rue De Salaberry, in Cartierville, when the offender runs a red light, in the middle of a street race with an acquaintance he considers to be “a bad influence”.
The victim was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. The taxi driver is injured in the head.
Following the “appalling accident”, believes the judge, Ilias El Azali gets out of his vehicle, then gets into the car of his accomplice, who convinces him to leave the scene. A few seconds later, the accused turned back to retrieve his cell phone from his vehicle. At this point, minimizing the magnitude of the impact, he returns home.
In the morning, when the police go to his home, he tells them, falsely, that his car was stolen and that he was not involved in a road accident.
Many aggravating factors
Among the aggravating factors mentioned by Judge Labelle, we note in particular street racing, extreme speeding in an urban environment, the fact that the accused deliberately left the scene of the accident without calling the emergency services, and the fact that Ilias El Azali had already obtained a fine for excessive speeding in the years preceding the accident.
“For his own pleasure, the offender played Russian roulette with the lives of innocent third parties,” said the judge, who strongly condemned the accused’s search for thrills.
When pronouncing his sentence, Judge Labelle also addressed all drivers, evoking the principles of denunciation and deterrence: “Such conduct will be severely punished, even among people with no history. »
In return, the judge underlined the fact that the accused, who was accompanied by his father at the time of sentencing, has no criminal record and that his risk of recidivism is low.
“I am satisfied with the sentence, which is close to what the prosecution was asking for,” Crown Prosecutor Ms.e Anik Archambault, who was asking for a “severe” sentence of five years.
The defense attorney, M.e Stéphanie Basso, who was demanding a two-year prison sentence, had no comments to make to journalists.