The husband of a RCMP officer killed on duty in April 2015 has launched a civil suit against the driver who killed her. West Shore RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett, 32, was killed when her marked police car was struck broadside at Goldstream Avenue at Peatt Road on April 5, 2015, by a truck driven by Kenneth Jacob Fenton.
She and husband Bradley Aschenbrenner have two sons, Lucas, now six, and Emmitt, now three.
The civil suit, filed in October, claims Fenton’s negligence caused Beckett’s death.
Aschenbrenner is bringing the claim under the Family Compensation Act, saying he and his young sons have lost Beckett’s guidance, companionship, support, household assistance and inheritance.
The act compensates families for lost income and some expenses, but does not compensate for emotional loss, said Victoria lawyer Michael Mulligan, who is not involved in the case.
Fenton, who has been sentenced to four years in prison, was driving drunk and travelling between 76 and 90 kilometres an hour in a 50 km/h zone before hitting Beckett’s eastbound car.
Beckett was the first female B.C. police officer to die on duty, and the first Vancouver Island officer killed while on duty since 1991. — Times Colonist
