Canadian man who drove car into crowd in Toronto jailed for life

A Canadian man who rammed his rental van into a crowd in Toronto in 2019 was sentenced to life in prison on Moday (June 13). He will not get parole for first 25 years of his sentennce. He act of ramming the car into the crowd had caused 11 deaths.

Alek Minassian, the convict, was 25 at the time of the attack. He was found guilty by a Canadian judge just over a year ago, in March 2021.

On April 23, 2018, Minassian drove a white rental van at full speed down streets and sidewalks in the Canadian metropolis, aiming at passers-by for a little more than a mile.

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Ten people were killed and 16 injured in the attack -- but the death toll rose to 11 at the end of October 2021 when an injured woman who had spent more than three years in hospital also succumbed to her injuries.

It was the worst attack in Toronto's history.

The sentence came within three weeks of Canada's Supreme Court striking down cumulative sentences for murderers. The provision of the criminal code dated back to 2011. It allowed judges to impose extremely long prison sentences on killers who caused numerous deaths.

The Court concluded that a prison sentence which "greatly exceeds the life expectancy of any human person is degrading by its absurdity and, therefore, contrary to human dignity".

"I'm definitely not satisfied," Elwood Delaney, whose grandmother died in the attack, told reporters.
Minassian "sat there, showed no emotion, barely looked up at anybody reading an impact statement," adding, "I hold a lot of anger towards that man."

(With inputs from agencies)

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