The man who crashed his truck into a Maple Ridge sushi restaurant, killing two women and injuring six others, has been arrested for drinking alcohol.
Brian Craig Irving was taken into custody last week after authorities learned he had been drinking.
The 55-year-old has been living under strict conditions since January 2009, when he was released from the Colony Farm Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Port Coquitlam. Those conditions included abstaining from alcohol, weekly visits with a psychiatrist, and mandatory urine analysis.
He is expected to return to the psychiatric hospital on Friday, three days before a mandatory review set for Jan. 24.
“Mr. Irving was reported to have breached a condition of his conditional discharge by consuming liquor,” said Neil McKenzie, a spokesperson for B.C. criminal justice branch.
Maija-Liisa Corbett, 19, and Hyeshim Oh, 46, died, and six others were injured when Irving drove his truck through the Halu Sushi restaurant at a strip mall on Lougheed Highway on the evening of Aug. 28, 2008.
Irving was arrested at the scene and eventually charged with two counts of criminal negligence causing death and seven counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm in relation to the crash,
He pleaded not guilty by reason of a mental disorder. Irving testified he had no recollection of the crash or the events up to a week after.
A chronic alcoholic, Irving suffered a brain injury in January 2008 for which he required surgery.
At the time of the crash, Irving had quit drinking alcohol.
Psychiatrists hired by both defence and Crown agreed that Irving was in a delirium likely caused by withdrawal from alcohol when he plowed into the restaurant.
As a result, he was found not criminally responsible for the crash. Following the trial in October 2009, a judge referred his case to a disposition review board, an independent tribunal established under the Criminal Code of Canada that deals with mentally disordered persons who have committed an offence.
Irving was admitted to Colony Farm psychiatric hospital, but released less than three months later after the review board determined he posed a “manageable risk to the public.”
Irving was let out despite warnings from a doctor at Colony Farm who felt his release was premature, a position echoed by the Crown prosecutor Lyle Hillaby.
“It’s what I told the board. The man is an alcoholic. He will drink again,” said Hillaby.
On Tuesday, Hillaby will be back in front of the review board, arguing to keep Irving at the hospital.
“The risk to be managed is different than a drunk driver, it is for a person who becomes delirious when they withdraw from drinking,” he added.
“The Crown is taking a very cautious approach. If [Mr. Irving’s] efforts to resist alcohol are completely fruitless, then the risk is greater than it was even two years ago.”
The families devastated by the crash are not surprised Irving consumed alcohol.
A relapse was expected by Michael Corbin, whose daughter Juanita and son Joel, who was nine years old at the time, were pinned under Irving’s truck.
Juanita suffered facial injuries, broken bones and a brain injury, but the impact on Joel, who spent three weeks in a coma, was much more serious.
In addition to injuries to both his frontal lobes, a cranial nerve in his right eye was damaged, and his back, neck and right shoulder were injured.
The injuries have impaired Joel’s speech and perception, as well as altered his behaviour. He also has recurring nightmares and anxiety.
“My son has a life sentence. He can wake up in the middle of the night screaming because he thinks there’s a vehicle parked on his head,” said Corbin, who has little faith in Canada’s justice system.
“Public safety is not being taken into consideration. It is not part of the equation. The laws are set up for the guilty – not to protect the public. We are not talking about a man having a drink, we are talking about someone who doesn’t know when to stop.”
Corbin also points to the doctor’s recommendations in 2009 to keep Irving in custody.
“There are no circumstances under which he should be able to be out on his own,” he said.
“I really don’t have too much confidence in a system that won’t listen to experts. I just shake my head. If they are going to allow him [out], I just hope he hurts himself and not anybody else.”
