Bride's family speaks as West Vancouver woman sentenced for driving SUV into wedding party

Sixty-five-year-old Hong Xu, who drove her SUV into a crowd of people celebrating a wedding at her next-door neighbour’s house in West Vancouver on Aug. 20, 2022, has been sentenced under the Motor Vehicle Act for driving without due care and attention.

An investigation determined Xu mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake. Two wedding guests – 67-year-old Annie Kong and 62-year-old Lieu Nguyen – were killed, and seven others were injured.

On Tuesday, a provincial court judge in North Vancouver ordered Xu to pay a $2,000 fine and prohibited her from driving for five years.

While the victims' families were expecting the relatively light sentence, which was recommended by both Crown and defence after Xu pleaded guilty to the Motor Vehicle Act charge on Monday, the reality of the driver escaping without criminal charges and jail time was still difficult to swallow.

“It’s an outrage; it’s an absolute outrage," said Annie Kong's son Nigel.

"This is something that is for a minor traffic offence. We are talking about two lives, several people critically injured, multiple families' potential future hopes dashed. How is that worth so little?”

The family of the bride spoke to CTV News for the first time publicly outside court.

“The fine that the defendant received is incredibly unfair for the damages, the death, the injuries and the trauma that resulted from her accident,” said Susan Nguyen, who is the niece of the second victim. Her sister was the bride whose wedding day was marred by tragedy.

“There is no one out there that can help her grieve, help her process the loss. And going through this (court) process is also reliving that tragedy,” said Susan Nguyen of her sister Nancy, who read an emotional victim impact statement in court on Monday.

“She’s doing the best that she can, the best all the families can. But we are just subject to the courts' mercy at this point.”

Nigel Kong believes Xu should have been charged criminally.

“She knew there was a wedding happening, she knew she was getting behind the wheel," he said. "It’s a privilege to drive, it’s not a right. And if you get into a vehicle, you have to be able to understand how to use it, and clearly in this case, she didn’t know how to use it.”

Xu’s lawyer Ian Donaldson says his client is filled with remorse and sorrow for what happened at the wedding.

“I’m sure that she is relieved that the proceeding is over, but she continues to weep over the consequences of her actions. She is a genuine human who is very sad about all of this,” said Donaldson.

But he believes the charge and the sentence were correct.

“We in Canada don’t jail people for inadvertent mistakes. We don’t do that. Unless there’s a criminal element of fault to it, and there was was no criminal fault. The police agreed, the Crown agrees, I agree, we all I agree,” Donaldson said. “I’m sorry for their loss. It’s a terrible loss, but jailing Ms. Xu doesn’t help that loss.”

While the Nguyen family isn’t sure what sentence would have been appropriate, they believe what Xu was ultimately given was not justice.

“That’s not only inadequate, that’s an insult,” said Susan Nguyen. “What happened that day wasn’t just some broken fence posts or flowers. People died, got maimed, children were injured, children were scarred, and that’s not OK.”

Because Xu wasn’t charged criminally, ICBC’s no fault insurance model prevents the victims' families from pursuing a civil case. In the eyes of the law, the matter is now closed.

“We have no recourse, no further ability to understand what really happened,” said Nigel Kong. “It’s so unjust. It’s so unfair.”