Nanaimo woman acquitted of drunk driving charges
Posted March 30, 2012 6:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NANAIMO (NEWS1130) – A judge has acquitted a Vancouver Island woman charged with drunk driving in a crash that killed her two sons near Nanaimo in 2008.
Clare Bekkers, 39, was accused of impaired driving causing death, and dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm after the crash killed the boys, aged nine and two, and injured her two daughters, aged seven and four.
But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Doug Halfyard told court the Crown hadn’t proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Bekkers was impaired by drugs and alcohol at the time.
A witness told the trial Bekkers had drunk beer and took cocaine the night before the crash on the Island Highway, south of Nanaimo, but a blood sample taken after the accident showed a blood alcohol level of about 0.04, which is below the legal limit.
Outside the court, an emotional Bekkers told reporters she was glad it was over and wanted to go home.
