Bride's family speaks as West Vancouver woman sentenced for driving SUV into wedding party
CTV
Sixty-five-year-old Hong Xu, who drove her SUV into a crowd of people celebrating a wedding at her next-door neighbour's house in West Vancouver on Aug. 20, 2022, has been sentenced under the Motor Vehicle Act for driving without due care and attention.
Sixty-five-year-old Hong Xu, who drove her SUV into a crowd of people celebrating a wedding at her next-door neighbour’s house in West Vancouver on Aug. 20, 2022, has been sentenced under the Motor Vehicle Act for driving without due care and attention.
An investigation determined Xu mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake. Two wedding guests – 67-year-old Annie Kong and 62-year-old Lieu Nguyen – were killed, and seven others were injured.
On Tuesday, a provincial court judge in North Vancouver ordered Xu to pay a $2,000 fine and prohibited her from driving for five years.
While the victims' families were expecting the relatively light sentence, which was recommended by both Crown and defence after Xu pleaded guilty to the Motor Vehicle Act charge on Monday, the reality of the driver escaping without criminal charges and jail time was still difficult to swallow.
“It’s an outrage; it’s an absolute outrage," said Annie Kong's son Nigel.
"This is something that is for a minor traffic offence. We are talking about two lives, several people critically injured, multiple families' potential future hopes dashed. How is that worth so little?”
The family of the bride spoke to CTV News for the first time publicly outside court.
