Prison for hit-and-run driver who left teen cyclist with catastrophic injuries

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Just days after her son was left with a catastrophic brain injury from a hit-and-run crash, Abby Roby publicly called the unknown driver who hit 17-year-old Tristan Roby “a coward” for not turning himself in.

Tuesday, more than five years later, a judge agreed and sentenced Jesse Bleck, 31, to four-and-a-half years in prison for failing to remain at the crash and driving while prohibited.

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“Mr. Bleck’s cruel and cowardly conduct falls at the high end of moral blameworthiness,” Superior Court Justice Kelly Tranquilli said in a sentencing decision almost a year after Bleck’s lengthy trial began.

“This was not a momentary lapse of judgement where he still thought better of his conduct and returned to the scene and turned himself in.”

Instead, Bleck fled on foot and began a “prolonged attempt to avoid responsibility for the next six months until his arrest, knowing all the while about Mr. Roby’s catastrophic injuries, the active police investigation and Tristan’s family’s unanswered questions about what happened on Exeter Road that night and who was involved,” the judge said.

With pre-sentence custody factored in, Bleck has three years, nine months and 13 days left to serve and a 10-year driving prohibition on top of his current prohibition term.

Abby Roby said outside court that she was relieved after the sentencing, noting Tranquilli favoured the Crown’s suggestion for a prison term more than the defence pitch for a conditional sentence based on Bleck’s need to look after his son, one of his three children.

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“There is a sense of closing this chapter. I’m just glad that it’s over. It’s taken five years. I’m just glad he got more than he was asking for,” she said outside of court.

Tristan Roby, now 23, was in the courtroom with his mother, his sister Mackenzie Azevedo, and a group of supporters to hear the decision. He is wheelchair-bound and cannot speak as a result of the injuries suffered in that 2019 crash.

Bleck maintained his innocence through the trial and afterwards in a statement read to the court.

“I thought it was horrible for Tristan,” Abby Roby said outside of court. “You hit this kid, you destroyed his life, his future.

“Tristan’s health is declining. . . . I’ve been waiting for this, so has Tristan. He’s been holding on for this.”

Tristan and his best friend were on the their bicycles, heading out along Exeter Road to go night fishing on July 21, 2019, when Tristan was struck by Bleck’s Nissan and, as his family said during previous victim impact statements, left for dead.

Bleck, a prohibited driver, drove almost a kilometre to the parking lot of the Casa Blanca motel, with Tristan’s bike under the car, throwing sparks. He and one of two passengers ran off across a field before they were confronted by a passing motorist.

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The main issue at the jury trial last summer was the identity of the driver. Despite attempts by one passenger to claim he was the driver and Bleck’s ex-girlfriend feebly suggesting she lied to the police, the jury convicted him.

Bleck, who was on house arrest wearing an ankle monitor, added another another conviction for driving while prohibited while awaiting trial and failing to comply with bail conditions. His licence was suspended at the time of the crash.

Yet, Tranquilli noted, Bleck maintained a cavalier attitude about authority and his view that the rules don’t apply to him.

Changes in Canadian law that call for longer sentences for driving offences and Tranquilli’s view that Bleck is a danger to the community were prime reasons behind sending him to prison.

“The gravity of the damage that could ensue in the event of re-offence is also a concern with the risk of injury and economic loss,” she said.

Bleck was silent, but his face was full of emotion when he turned to the back of the courtroom as he was led away. He blew a kiss to his family.

All of this could have been avoided, Abby Roby said. “Here’s the thing: it was an accident. You panic, you stop, you see what happened. If he had done that, we wouldn’t have been here today.”

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Instead, she said, Bleck “dragged this through the mud,” prolonged the trial and sentencing, put the Roby family through stress and put a jury that had been chosen for a three-week trial through a six-week marathon.

“If he had stopped to help Tristan, it would have been devastating, I would still be mourning my son the same way but he wouldn’t have been a monster,” she said. “Only a monster knows they did something and then leaves.”

jsims@postmedia.com

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