Driver who killed Calgary chef, filmmaker must 'tell his story' and spend 1 month in jail
Meghan Grant | CBC News | Posted: August 16, 2018 10:58 PM | Last Updated: August 17, 2018
Nicholas Miklic, 25, was convicted of careless driving under the Traffic Safety Act
A Calgary judge appeared to get emotional when trying to determine a fit sentence for a young man who drove carelessly, killing a local chef and an up-and-coming filmmaker.
"It is exceptionally difficult to decide [Nicholas] Miklic's case," Judge Heather Lamoureux said Thursday. "The court is struggling with what it should do."
Jonathan Robert Sobol, 33, and Alec Bracegirdle, 20, died on Aug. 30, 2016, in a head-on crash caused by Miklic.
Lamoureux acknowledged the victims' families and the offender are suffering "mightily" before sentencing Nicholas Miklic to 30 days in jail.
"I think that a fit sentence might be what we call in law a short sharp period of incarceration," said the judge, who also ordered Miklic to attend three driving courses and to "tell his story" to the class in hopes someone will learn from it.
Miklic was driving a rented moving van on Highway 9, northeast of the city, two years ago when he tried to pass a semi-tractor trailer, crashing head-on with Sobol's Volkswagen.
After a trial last December, Miklic was convicted of careless driving.
Members from both families read victim impact statements before the sentence was handed down.
The Bracegirdle family told the court they are moving back to England because they can't bear to be in the Calgary area since their son's death.
"We cannot express the depth of loss," said Philip Bracegirdle.
'We have been robbed'
Sobol and Bracegirdle were heading to a farm to meet with a local producer.
It was to be Bracegirdle's first solo video project and he was focusing on Sobol's work.
The well-known chef loved working with children and was mentoring a group of Grade 6 kids in the city at the time of his death.
A cooking scholarship has been set up in his name at SAIT.
Sobol's father called his son "my buddy" and said he longed for another fishing trip together.
"My heart aches every hour of every day," said Bob Sobol. "We have been robbed."
Prosecutor Ron Simenik had proposed the maximum sentence of six months in jail while defence lawyer Brendan Miller asked the judge to impose a $2,000 fine plus 12 months probation.
"Everyone leaves the courtroom with a burden to bear," said Lamoureux, acknowledging the Sobol and Bracegirdle families "will suffer for the remainder of their lives."
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