Driver who had seizure to be sentenced for crashing into school, killing girl

ST. PAUL, Alta. – Lawyers are to present arguments Thursday on whether a man who killed a student when he crashed his minivan into a school while he was having a seizure should be kept behind bars.

Another child has been in a vegetative state since Richard Benson plowed into a classroom at Racette Junior High in St. Paul, Alta., on Oct. 25, 2012. A third was seriously injured.

Benson, 47, pleaded guilty earlier this year to criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

He admitted in a court document that he wasn’t supposed to be driving and rarely took prescribed medication to control his seizures.

Crown prosecutor Jeff Rudiak has said he plans to recommend Benson serve three years in prison.

Defence lawyer Jason Conlin has indicated he will ask the judge to sentence Benson to time served because he has been in custody since the accident. He suggested that Benson can be managed in the community with two years of probation and a 10-year driving ban.

Conlin said his client has been remorseful since the crash and has apologized at each of his court appearances in the last year.

“He’s prepared to move this matter forward and accept responsibility.”

Benson had just dropped two of his children off at different schools in St. Paul and stopped at the post office. He had a seizure as he was driving home down a back alley.

The van bolted at about 80 km/h down more back lanes, crossed five streets and slammed into the window and wall at the school. It landed in a lower-level Grade 6 classroom and sent students and desks flying. Three children were pinned underneath the vehicle.

Megan Wolitski, 11, died in hospital the next day.

Classmates Angelina Luce suffered a brain injury, speech and eye problems. Maddie Guitard remains in a vegetative state and is not expected to recover, say court documents.

Documents also lay out how Benson has suffered from seizures since a severe beating in 2002 put him in a coma and left him with a metal plate in his head.

When he applied for driver’s licences, he didn’t declare that he had health problems that might affect his ability to drive. The province requires people to disclose such information.

Doctors had also been writing prescriptions for medication, but court documents say Benson rarely filled them or took the pills he did get. His seizures had been increasing in recent years.

He suffered one at home four days before the crash and refused to go a doctor.

The court document says Benson “continued to drive while being aware of the danger or risk he posed to the lives or safety of others while operating a motor vehicle.”

Conlin said Benson has been taking proper medication since his arrest and his health appears to have stabilized.