Youth to Receive Adult Sentence in Calgary Officer’s Hit-and-Run Death

A young man has been convicted of manslaughter in the hit-and-run death of a Calgary Police Officer and will be facing adult sentence after a judge ruled the three-year maximum youth sentence for manslaughter was not adequate for his offence.

The officer, Sgt. Andrew Harnett was killed after being dragged for 400 metres by an SUV, then falling into oncoming traffic on New Year’s Eve, 2020. The offender, who was 11 days from turning 18 at the time but is now 20, was driving the SUV when it took off from a routine traffic stop with the officer holding on to the wheel and trying to stop him.

According to the Canadian Press,  Court of King’s Bench Justice Anna Loparco found the young man guilty of manslaughter. Loparco said the offender had “demonstrated traits more aligned with an adult than a young person.”

Loparco said “the consequential harm done was immense. A man lost his life, a family lost a husband and soon-to-be-father, brother and son. A wide circle lost a friend. Society lost a police officer who exemplified professional conduct.”

Loparco said the offender is at “high risk to violently offend and he cannot be safely with a three-year youth sentence.” The judge concluded that the court “shall therefore, impose an adult sentence.”

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