NORTH SHORE Dead boy's father says sentence not lon e te Sp hay peat Sgt. NEWS photo Teny Peters S: STARTING to look. a lot like Christmas. in. Guy;Carscadden’s front ‘yard. The huge Christmas play, at-1004:Grand Boulevard,. North Vancouver, was created to raise funds‘for the Burn Unit and { ‘Chilcren's Hospital. Nor‘. Shore firefighters’ will collect donations from drivers.and passengers of pass- § g: vehicles’ The: Carousel: Chorus will kick: off. the festiv=. sand raising-tonight (Friday) and tomorrow from_7 to'10 p.m: Above, Cody Knight (left) and Guy. Carscadden prepare for the big night. Holiday 1 events » Slated { _ PAGE-13- |g g enough ROBERT DALE Ternes’ 22-year jai! sentence will do little to deter people from drinking and driving, accurding to the father whose 14-year-old son was killed Feb. 11 when a car driven by Ternes ploughed into a group of North Vancouver students. “Where’s the deterrent?’’ Barry Oakley asked in an interview fol- lowing Wednesday’s sentencing of Ternes in Vancouver county court. “He'll be in jail for 10 months (at which time he will be eligible for parole). Is that a deterrent? | mean, how much horror do you want before life sentences are im- posed? My son was killed and Craig Potter is still in hospital. He'll never be the same. Ten mon- ths for the potential of 50 good years of good life my son had to look forward to?”’ Ternes, 33, was sentenced by Vancouver county court Judge John Cowan on one count of crim- inal negligence causing death and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm in connection with the Feb. 11 accident that resulted in the death of Stephen Qakley, 14, and serious injuries to Craig Potter, 15. Ternes was also originally charged with impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm after breathalyzer readings of .210 and .200 were obtained from him upon his release from hospiial after the accident, But Ternes was found not guilty on the impaired driving charges after Judge Cowan agteed with defence lawyer Richard Peck that, because the breath samples were taken after the two-hour statutory limit, the Crown could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ternes was impaired at the time his Toyota Tercel jumped a sidewalk in the 1000-block of Montroyal | Boulevard and hit a group of Handsworth Secondary School students 9n their way home from school. Crown counse! Bol Wright ask- ed for a stiff sentence for Ternes, but Peck said his client-was not a monster, just an ordinary citizen who had made a tragic mistake. In passing sentence, Judge Cowan said Ternes was obviously remorseful, but a sentence of general deterrence had to be im- posed. Judge Cowan said that even though Ternes had been acquitted of impaired driving charges, alcohol had played a part in the accident. Ternes, an employee at North Vancouver’s 13th Street and By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter Lonsdale Avenue Safeway store, testified during his four-day trial that he had consumed about five glasses of beer at two Vancouver hotels the morning of the accident. Craig Potter remains in G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre, where he is undergoing intensive rehabilitation from injuries and a stroke suffered as a result of the accident. G.F. Strong director of nursing Fran Mckay said Potter is continu- ing to make progress, ‘‘but it’s a jong tough road."* A victim statement from Potter read in court Wednesday by the Crown stated that he could no longer enjoy such simple activities as riding his skateboard to school, playing football or taking ‘‘my dog Dusty for a walk.’’ Mothers Against Drinking Drivers national society president Marion Quesnel said Wednesday Ternes’ sentence was far too le- nient. ‘Judges are just not taking this seriously,’’ she said, ‘‘Why don’t they give the maximum sentence (life imprisonment for negligence causing death)? We do have good laws in this country, but what good are they if they are not en- forced. This is the only form of murder that seems to be acceptable in our society.’”’ Said Oakley: ‘‘The saddest thing is when you are asked to come to the hospital to try and identify your child, and you don’t even know if it is your child because he has been smashed up so badly.’”