No jail time for B.C. man who struck residential school marchers [Video]

A British Columbia senior who drove his pickup truck into a march for Indigenous residential school survivors will avoid jail time after he was sentenced Monday to nine months of house arrest.

Richard Manuel, who was 77 years old when he struck several people during the demonstration in Mission on June 4, 2022, was found guilty of dangerous driving and was sentenced to a nine-month conditional sentence.

The Abbotsford provincial court judge also handed Manuel a 12-month driving prohibition.

Witnesses testified they saw Manuel driving his truck on the shoulder of the Lougheed Highway to try to pass a line of cars held up by the marchers who were walking to the grounds of the former St. Mary’s Indian Residential School.

One of the victims was a traffic flagger who was wearing high-visibility clothing and carrying a traffic control sign when he was struck, the court heard.

Witnesses said they …