A mother and her one-year-old daughter. Two children aged 4 and 5. Four lives cut short by the recklessness of Andreas Stroebele, a farmer who transported children in the shovel of his tractor during a party. He got away with a six-month home prison sentence on Wednesday, a sentence which sends a “message”, according to the judge.
“Everyone is aware that this is not a six-month sentence, it is a life sentence. He has been serving it since 1er July 2020. He will have it on his conscience all his life. The suffering he must be experiencing is indescribable,” said Judge Gaétan Dumas, very empathetic towards the accused, at the Granby courthouse.
Andreas Stroebele, 41, was scheduled to face a lengthy trial next spring on charges of criminal negligence causing death. On Wednesday morning, he instead pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving causing the deaths of three children and a woman. A publication ban protects their identity.
During a big party in July 2020 in Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge, in Estrie, Andreas Stroebele was driving his tractor on public roads. Around ten people were in the shovel, including several children. An “unknown event” then led to real carnage on the road. Neither alcohol nor speed are factors. The circumstances of the case – summarily summarized by the lawyers – however remain very vague,
That day, Andreas Stroebele made a “deed regularly made by many people like him in this environment [alors qu’] there was never an accident,” trivialized the defense lawyer, Mr.e Michel Dussault.
To be found guilty of dangerous driving, the accused’s conduct must deviate markedly from the conduct of a reasonable person. Such a crime is therefore not a simple error or an “accident”.
Judge Dumas, himself raised in the countryside, explained that “everyone” did like the accused at the time, and that several did “still do it today”.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
It was on this road that the three children and the woman died at Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge.
“Minds need to change. We need to send the message: stop carrying children around in a tractor shovel. How criminal it becomes is the question. We must send a message that it has become criminal,” concluded Judge Dumas.
“The public must understand that actions like this are dangerous and can have devastating consequences,” argued Crown prosecutor M.e Stephanie Landry.
The six-month community prison sentence suggested by the parties is “very appropriate”, according to the judge. “This is the best ending that could have happened in this case,” he added. This is also the “saddest” file of his 20-year career on the bench.
However, this sentence is particularly lenient for a record of dangerous driving causing the death of four people. For example, Éric Rondeau was sentenced earlier this year to eight months in prison for killing a motorcyclist while trying to avoid ducks on the road.
Despite the dire conclusion, the lawyers reiterated how much the victims’ parents did not hold a grudge against Andreas Stroebele. “They never showed any animosity or revenge. For them, it’s an accident. Even my client considers himself lucky in his bad luck. The bereavement had a terrible effect on him,” the defense lawyer said.
“They are very suffering people. It is welcomed with relief by the people who witnessed a tragedy with very significant human consequences,” added the Crown prosecutor.