VICTORIA -- The man convicted of killing West Shore RCMP officer Const. Sarah Beckett in a 2016 crash has been granted overnight parole privileges.
Kenneth Fenton’s vehicle collided with Beckett's police cruiser after he ran a red light in April 2016 in Langford. Then, in May 2016, while on bail for that crash, Fenton sat behind the wheel while impaired and crashed into a ditch while speeding away from police, causing serious injuries to himself and a passenger.
In July 2016, he was sentenced to five years and six months in prison for several charges, including impaired driving causing death, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and more.
In early 2019, Fenton was granted limited day parole, which was extended to full day parole later that year.
Now, in a decision made Tuesday by the Parole Board of Canada, Fenton has been granted overnight leave privileges.
He is now living on a 4 to 3 schedule, meaning that for four days a week he will be required to stay in his community residential facility and for three days he can stay in his apartment.
"In coming to a decision to continue your day parole, the board remains ever mindful of the nature and gravity of your index offences," reads the recent decision.
"The lifelong consequences of your offence on the surviving family members remains front of mind for the board."
However, the Parole Board of Canada says that Fenton has remained sober and regularly attended AA meetings during his parole. It adds that he has been regularly employed while on parole and has been saving money for his eventual released date.
"There is no information to indicate you have breached the conditions of your release or that your risk to reoffend has elevated," wrote the board.
Fenton's parole conditions include a ban on consuming alcohol or drugs and he must continue to follow treatment plans created by his parole supervisor.
He is also banned from owning a car and is barred from returning to Vancouver Island.
In 2019, when Fenton was granted day parole, Beckett's husband – Bradley Aschenbrenner – told CTV News that he had lost faith in the justice system.
"I don't have hope anymore with Canadian laws. I don't have any hope in Canada doing the right thing," he said at the time.
