‘Reckless’ and ‘selfish:’ Judge rejects lawyers’ proposal, sentences speeding biker to more jail time

In a highly unusual move, a BC judge has rejected a three-month jail sentence for a Kelowna motorcyclist who drove at extreme speeds on residential roads on more than two dozen occasions, telling lawyers their joint submission was “far too low.”

“Dangerous does not even begin to describe it,” BC Provincial Court Judge Monica McParland said of Christopher Blair Muir’s driving.

Muir had filmed his excessive speeds with a GoPro on his helmet, and when police seized the footage as evidence, the magnitude of his driving became apparent.

He was clocked doing 253 km/h at Glenmore Drive and Union Road, which has a 60 km/h limit. Muir hit 213 km/h in another 60 km/h zone and filmed himself regularly reaching speeds over 160 km/h and often doing lengthy wheelies. 

The judge said she counted at least 26 occasions of dangerous driving before she stopped counting.

“The protracted, repeated, excessive speeds… shows a callous disregard for the rules of the road, for the safety of other drivers, and for the safety of pedestrians, and for the safety of those who live in residential streets,” the Judge said.

The charges date back to 2022, but Muir pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and resisting arrest last month.

In a joint submission to Judge McParland, Crown prosecutor Catherine Rezansoff and defence lawyer Michael Stevenson put forward a sentence of three months in jail and Muir had pleaded guilty.

In Canada, judges have to accept joint submissions except if the sentence would “bring the administration of justice into disrepute.”

It’s incredibly rare for judges to go against a joint submission even if they’re not happy with the sentence proposed.

However, Judge McParland said the public would “rightly be outraged” if she accepted the sentence of three months in jail.

“This is one of those rare certain situations where I am going to reject the joint submission because I do consider the proposed joint submission unhinged from (the) circumstances of the offence and the offender,” she said.

The judge said the Crown and defence had minimized the dangerousness of the driving when asked to justify their proposed three-month sentence.

She went on to say Muir’s driving was “reckless” and “selfish.”

The details date back to the spring of 2022, when Kelowna RCMP received numerous complaints of a motorcyclist driving at high speeds and doing wheelies around the city. Police traced the bike and its rider back to an apartment at Boynton Place in the Glenmore neighbourhood, but hadn’t identified Muir.

The RCMP’s luck changed in May 2022, when police clocked Muir doing 130 km/h in a 50 km/h area. 

An officer headed to Boynton Place and waited for Muir to return. 

When he did appear, a scuffle broke out, and Muir was later charged with resisting arrest. Police found brass knuckles, a knife, and individually wrapped packages of suspected drugs on him.

Muir was never charged in relation to the suspected drugs, but his GoPro camera contained multiple videos of his driving. He also posted the footage to his social media.

His GoPro had clocked his speedometer on his bike, and prosecutors used the footage to press multiple charges.

“This protracted high incidence of extreme speed in residential and in city limits is extremely dangerous, particularly when you add the concept of doing wheelies,” Judge McParland said. “This is what appears to be a repeated and protracted pattern of recklessness and dangerous driving.”

The judge said the 39-year-old got his licence when he was young and almost immediately got an infraction. Over the years, Muir has been prosecuted multiple times for driving offences and barred from driving.

The Judge said 12 months’ jail was an appropriate sentence, but it was mitigating that he’d pleaded guilty, so the sentence would instead be 10 months.

With time already spent in custody, Muir will spend another eight months in jail.

However, court records indicate he has already filed an appeal.