Five years in prison for drunk driver who killed his friend and then drove impaired months later
Client: Kane Anignostis Burrowst
Charge: Impaired driving
Verdict: Five-year sentence at Bowden Institute
Zachary Legault was killed when the car he was in struck a parked crane off Glenmore Trail S.W.
A drunk behind the wheel of a car is like “a bullet to the head” of anyone in their path, a judge said Thursday in sentencing a repeat impaired driver who killed his best friend to five years in prison.
Justice Shane Parker said while Kane Anignostis Burrows, 20, has taken steps to deal with his alcoholism, he still has a long road ahead of him.
“Never take a sip again,” Parker told the Calgary man before sentencing him for killing his best friend in a Dec. 23, 2024, crash and following that up with a drunken, high-speed flight from police eight months later that ended in a massive crash.
“You’re getting there. You now know and accept you can’t ever have one drink.”
But the Calgary Court of King’s Bench judge said it wasn’t the booze that was to blame for Burrows’ conduct, which resulted in the death of his friend, Zachary Legault, when he struck a parked crane off Glenmore Trail S.W. after a night of reckless driving.
“You used the word accident. It is offensive to use that term for both horrific incidents,” Parker said.
“While the booze is the gunpowder priming his impulsive, reckless decisions, it’s him behind the wheel. Behind the wheel drunk is a bullet to the head of anyone near a roadway.”
Crown prosecutor Kay De Boer argued a total sentence of 5½ years would be appropriate, considering Burrows was already under a driver’s licence suspension before the deadly crash.
He was still under that same suspension when he fled police nine months later, De Boer noted.
And she said Burrows should not be given significant credit for the fact he had no criminal record before the crash which killed his friend.
“This type of offence is ordinarily committed by law-abiding citizens,” she said.
De Boer told Parker that Burrows had a significant bad driving record before his first offence.
“When Mr. Burrows had the fatal collision he was already on conditions from bad driving,” she said.
In March and September of 2024 he received fines for failing to obey a traffic control device sandwiched around a May 2024 careless driving conviction which resulted in a one-month driving suspension.
Then in October he received an Immediate Roadside Sanction for impaired driving after refusing a breathalyzer which involved a 15-month suspension of his licence.
“It was only two months after being in an IRS fail (suspension) that the accident occurred,” De Boer said.
Repeat drunk driver knows he’s an alcoholic said lawyer
But in seeking a four-year sentence for Burrows’ two sets of charges, defence counsel Alain Hepner argued his client has learned his lesson.
“He admits he’s an alcoholic,” Hepner said, telling Parker his client started drinking at 13 and by 14 or 15 was getting up in the middle of the night to take “shots.”
“Alcohol’s his demon,” the lawyer said.
Hepner said a psychological report prepared by Dr. Patrick Baillie showed Burrows has insight into his addiction.
“He has learned ‘I can’t have one drink,'” the lawyer said.
The night he killed his best friend and badly injured another pal, Kristjan Kuqali, Burrows’ alcohol consumption clouded his rational thinking, Hepner submitted.
“Twenty below weather, top down in a BMW,” he said, of the fact Burrows was racing around the city in his mother’s stolen car with the convertible top down despite the frigid temperature.
Hepner said a four-year term would send a message to both his client and other potential drunk drivers who need to be deterred from getting behind the wheel.
“I just ask the court not to sacrifice that to any hope of rehabilitation,” he said.
At Hepner’s request Parker recommended most of Burrows’ time be served at Bowden Institution so he can be near his Calgary family.
Source: Calgary Herald