B.C. bus driver sentenced for drunk driving

North Vancouver provincial court is seen in this photo from North Vancouver RCMP.

A B.C. man who drove a commercial bus carrying 35 passengers while he was drunk has been fined $1,000 and had his licence suspended for one year.

Craig Randle, who was 65 when he was arrested last year, was convicted of one count of impaired driving and sentenced in North Vancouver provincial court Thursday.

Randle was driving a commercial bus travelling between Whistler and Vancouver when he was pulled over on the Trans-Canada Highway near Horseshoe Bay in August of 2022, according to a media release from the West Vancouver Police Department.

"In this case, we are fortunate that an alert citizen notified us to this serious public safety risk. That, combined with the quick action of our officers, resulted in the bus being stopped before a serious incident could occur," spokesperson Const. Nicole Braithwaite wrote at the time, noting that the call to police came from a passenger who was concerned Handle was "driving erratically."

Randle was charged in October of last year with driving while impaired by alcohol or a drug and operating a vehicle while blood alcohol concentration is equal to or over the legal limit. The second charge has been stayed, according to publicly available court records.