Driver gets five years for hit-and-run crash that killed young father

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Jacob Phillips says he spent his time in custody reflecting and making a promise to be a better person.

The 31-year-old London man with an appalling driving record stood up in an Ontario Court of Justice courtroom Friday to apologize to the family of Thou Roeun, 38, the pedestrian he struck and killed on Adelaide Street two years ago and to tell Justice Craig Sigurdson that “I feel like I’m finally on the right path.

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“I just want the court to know that I’m better now for myself, in memory of Mr. Roeun,” he said before Sigurdson accepted a joint sentencing submission from the Crown and the defence for a five-year prison term and a $400 fine. With enhanced time-served calculations that took into account lengthy lockdowns and restrictions, Phillips has 11 months left to serve.

What Sigurdson learned is Phillips has been a model prisoner and has been deeply involved in trying to understand and change his mindset.

He pleaded guilty to careless driving, failing to stop and driving while disqualified for the hit-and-run at the corner of Adelaide and Nelson streets on April 23, 2022; guilty to careless driving, failing to stop and driving while disqualified for a second incident on May 11, 2022, and guilty to possession of 35.9 grams of cocaine on May 27, 2022, when he was arrested.

Roeun, a father of three daughters, had just exited a gas station variety store with his nephews when he was struck and killed.

Sigurdson recounted the circumstances in his sentencing decision and said “what is striking about all of the events … is that Mr. Phillips wasn’t supposed to be on the road at all.”

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Phillips has a long criminal record for “a whole spectrum of offences” including crimes for violence, drugs, property offences and weapons. He had nine prior convictions for driving while disqualified and two counts of dangerous operation and failing to stop.

On April 23, 2022, at about 9: 30 p.m., Phillips was speeding and quickly switching lanes along Adelaide Street when he “ultimately struck and killed Mr. Roeun, who was an innocent pedestrian.”

“Not only did he kill Mr. Roeun, he failed to remain at the scene. He left Mr. Roeun on the road,” Sigurdson said. “You owed it to Mr. Roeun to remain at the scene of that collision to be able to assist him.”

Three weeks later and still on the lam, “he’s back out on the road again,” Sigurdson said.

“Again, he doesn’t have a licence, again he’s not supposed to be driving, again he’s bound by multiple driving disqualifications and multiple periods of suspensions,” he said.

Phillips was following another vehicle too close and ultimately struck it, before taking off again.

He wasn’t arrested for another two weeks, when police discovered the drugs on him.

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Sigurdson heard at a previous court appearance from Roeun’s large and devastated family. He said the victim impact statements were “nothing less than heartbreaking.”

A nephew, two sisters and Roeun’s oldest daughter spoke of their deep pain and sense of loss. One of his sisters described rushing to the hospital and being with Roeun when he died.

Her brother was kind, loving and generous. “You have left me and my family to grieve in agony and we’re still grieving and will be forever. In the end, you have done a lot of damage to me and my family and you’ve left us with a scar that cannot be healed,” she wrote.

His daughter wrote about the “unbearable and overwhelming” sense of loss.

“I wish I could have at least said good-bye, but I never got that chance. None of us did.”

Another sister spoke of their mother’s “daily agony…There’s an empty chair that sits where his laughter used to fill the room. His absence is a constant ache and emptiness the whole family shares,” she wrote.

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It appears this loss was not lost on Phillips, who gave a lengthy, heartfelt statement.

“If I may, I’d just like to take the time to apologize to the family from the bottom of my heart. I understand the loss that they’re going through because I’ve experienced loss of a loved one before,” he said.

“It was never my intention to cause them hurt or pain or anybody for that matter. I’m really sorry about the impact I have had on them, because I am a father as well,” he said, adding he hoped one day they might find forgiveness, not merely for him, but to help them recover.

Since he has been in custody, Phillips said he underwent a deep, lengthy reflection about his life and how “I had trouble finding value in myself.”

“But over time, in conversations with staff members, correctional officers, chaplains, social workers, I began to change my perspective and decided I could look at myself as wearing orange because I’m incarcerate, or I could look at myself wearing orange because I am under construction,” he said.

Phillips said he thought about his past minimizations and rationalizations for his behaviour and decided they “aren’t aligned with my values.”

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Sigurdson noted Phillips has completed 28 certificates while in custody for various life skill programs. Also, there was a letter of support from a supervisor at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre who “speaks about how positive an inmate Mr. Phillips is and was and how much of a leader he has been among his peers at the custodial institution.”

That kind of letter of support for an inmate facing sentencing from a jail official, “was a first for me,” Sigurdson said.

The judge encouraged Phillips to focus on his daughter going forward.

“She deserves to have you in her life. She deserves to have you as the role model that you know that you can be,” he said.

jsims@postmedia.com

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