No jail time for man who drove truck through residential school march in B.C.

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 then saw Manuel strike at least two other people while driving erratically through the marchers and yelling derogatory comments out his truck window.

Manuel appeared in court by video from Nova Scotia, where he now lives. He denied hitting anybody and said the flagger at the march was not wearing high-visibility clothing, however photo and video evidence presented in court contradicted his claims.

In a statement following the incident, the Mission RCMP said four people were struck by the vehicle, including two victims who were taken to hospital for treatment of their injuries.

The driver initially fled the scene but was arrested when he later surrendered to police.

Hundreds of children were taken from their families to the St. Mary's Indian Residential School site, which closed in 1984.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Lisa Steacy and Ben Miljure