FREDERICTON - Friends and family of a young New Brunswick man killed by a drunk driver who admitted to drinking 24 beers before getting behind the wheel are protesting the sentence handed out in the case.
Peter Leon Howe, 42, was sentenced late last month to two years of house arrest after he pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing the death of Robbie MacRitchie, 23.
MacRitchie's friends and family demonstrated outside the courthouse in Fredericton on Saturday, arguing the sentence, which the Crown is appealing, is too lenient.
MacRitchie was cycling on the side of the road when Howe, who had refused an offer to stay at a relative's house in Fredericton, veered onto the shoulder and hit him.
The judge said Howe was clearly remorseful and has realized he needs to make significant changes, adding that a review of case law indicated a conditional sentence was appropriate.
But MacRitchie's older brother, Cory, says the sentence wasn't enough, and hopes the attention given to the case will result in harsher punishments.
"I was quite disappointed in that I figured he'd go to jail for at least two years,'' he told Â鶹´«Ã½.
Tom MacKinnon, a family friend, said the sentence of house arrest represented a failure of the justice system.
"They say zero tolerance to drinking and driving, well, where did they show that?'' MacKinnon told Â鶹´«Ã½. "That just gives you props to go out and drink and drive.''
