‘I am not a killer’ Hit-and-run driver pleads with judge to spare him from jail sentence

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The driver who struck and killed a man in a Circle K parking lot nearly four years ago apologized to the victim’s family in court and pleaded with a judge to spare him from serving jail time.

Ian Joly expressed his remorse to the judge in court last week, then turned to face the family of Chris Fox and apologized to his grieving sister and mother seated in the court gallery.

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Fox was 33 when Joly struck and killed him with his van during an argument in a Circle K parking lot on Baseline Road on Sept. 15, 2020.

Joly pleaded guilty earlier this year to dangerous driving causing Fox’s death and admitted to striking Fox with his van and running over his body.

Crown attorneys Dallas Mack and Shakiba Azimi called for a sentence of two years less a day in a provincial jail, along with a driving ban for five years after his sentence is served.

Prosecutors cited Joly’s record of “numerous” tickets under the province’s Highway Traffic Act and said he has a “disregard for the rules of the road.”

Joly, 38, who does not have a defence lawyer and is representing himself, asked the judge to spare him from jail and instead impose a conditional sentence that includes a period of house arrest.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of this,” Joly said on Thursday. “I am very, very remorseful to Mr. Fox’s family. I look at myself every day in the mirror and I know that somebody lost his life because of this, but I am not a killer. I am not a murderer… I’m a good person, I’ve never been in trouble with the law.

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“I think about this every day and nobody should have died that night.”

According to a summary of the facts, Fox was killed in the aftermath of a fight that started in the parking lot after Joly saw Fox near his van in a “verbal confrontation” with Joly’s girlfriend.

Joly punched Fox repeatedly and continued to punch him as he lay on the ground.

Fox then followed Joly back to the van and blocked his path. At one point, Joly put the van in reverse, turned his steering wheel to the right and accelerated backwards, with the front end moving towards Fox. The driver’s side tires “clipped” his feet and legs, causing him to fall as the van drove over him in reverse.

Joly was seen by witnesses pausing for a moment before steering around Fox’s body and driving away from the scene.

Fox was rushed to hospital but died of internal bleeding from a tear to his heart.

Joly was arrested 20 minutes later after witnesses recorded his licence plate number as he drove away.

Fox and his family are from Brockville, where he was known as the town “prankster” who would regularly place teddy bears on streetlights and other visible spots on busy downtown streets.

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His family has travelled from Brockville to the Elgin Street courthouse for each of Joly’s court dates.

Last week, his mother and sister repeated their emotional victim impact statements, which were first read into the court record at a hearing in May.

His sentencing hearing was paused for several weeks after Joly asked the judge to reverse his guilty plea, claiming he was “not informed” about the Crown’s case when he entered the plea in February.

Superior Court Justice Kerry McVey denied Joly’s application and his sentencing hearing was completed last week. McVey is expected to render her sentence when the case reconvenes on Aug. 30.

“Mr. Fox lost his life. His family is never going to see him again,” McVey told Joly. “The sentence that I impose has to account for that and it has to reflect the devastating effect this has had on his family, and will continue to have long after any sentence that you serve.”

McVey asked Joly what steps he had taken to receive anger management counselling for what the judge called his “senseless and avoidable aggression.”

Joly said he “learned my lesson” from the 2020 incident and said he would accept any court-ordered counselling that comes with a conditional sentence.

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Joly said he couldn’t keep his job as a flooring contractor and lost his house and his vehicles after he was banned from driving as part of his bail conditions.

“I lost everything since this incident. Everything I have built up for myself I lost in an instant,” said Joly. “My life is in total shambles, but it’s nothing compared to what Mr. Fox’s family is going through.”

Joly denied the Crown’s assertion that he has shown “minimal acceptance” and a lack of remorse over Fox’s death.

“I’d like to apologize to (Fox’s) family. I’d like to tell you guys I am very sorry for what happened, and I have been remorseful. I know what it’s like to lose somebody,” said Joly.

Joly said he lost the mother of his two adult children seven years ago, and has lost both of his parents.

“I will always have what happened in my heart. There’s not one day that will go by that I won’t think about this.”

Joly told the judge his family life would “go right down the drain” if he is sent to jail.

McVey cautioned Joly to “get your affairs in order” prior to the Aug. 30 sentencing hearing as, the judge said, jail time is “a live possibility.”

ahelmer@postmedia.com

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