‘Completely unacceptable:’ woman avoids jail for fatal Nanaimo area construction zone crash

The speeding southbound Honda Fit driven by the woman with no prior criminal record hit and killed paver Raymond Ferguson on the Trans-Canada Hwy. between Kipp and Minetown roads on Sept 23, 2021, at about 11:45 pm.

Evidence outlined at trial showed Ferguson, who was days away from retirement, was hit by Boufford’s windshield, thrown about 30 meters and landed on the highway.

Ferguson was pronounced dead on scene.

Boufford continued south down the two-lane divided highway and rammed into the back of a dump truck.

A memorial remains on the Trans-Canada Hwy. with Raymond Ferguson’s work tools at the scene where his life was fatally cut short. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Katherine Toews, who was working as a flagger at the overnight paving project, was clipped by the car and sustained fractured ribs.

Thompson added Boufford’s actions “put herself and others in an impossible position when, too late, she appreciated the hazards.”

“Ms. Boufford was inattentive and carried on driving in what was, in the circumstances, a dangerous speed. As a result, her car collided with a vehicle in front of her and thereafter, one of the workers, with tragic consequences.”

Boufford is required to complete 180 hours of community service and pay a $400 victim surcharge.

The court heard Boufford was fired from her job as an accountant, her daughter no longer speaks to her and is actively being treated for depression.

Crown Counsel lobbied for four years in jail and a five-year driving prohibition, while defence contended a spotless driving history before the incident warranted just under two years living under a conditional sentencing order and a three-year driving prohibition.

Thompson said Boufford’s driving record factored in, but was both a positive and a negative in his decision.

“On balance, her mature years add to her moral culpability; we expect more with ample life experience. But to some extent, her age, or more particularly her 35-years of driving experience, cuts both ways. Unlike a young person, she has demonstrated over a long period that she is usually [compliant] to the rules of the road.”

Non-custodial sentences for dangerous driving causing death were unavailable in Canada between 2008 and 2022, but were reinstituted as of 2022 as an allowable punishment option for judges.

Emotions running high
Family and former co-workers of Ferguson were audibly displeased with the decision, yelling out from the gallery immediately after proceedings ended.

“That’s absolute bulls***!” one person was heard shouting as the judge walked off the bench.

Several supporters made last minute pleads for Boufford to apologize.

“She’s not sorry, she’s not sorry at all,” Ferguson’s daughter, Jelene Heimbecker, told reporters outside court. “She’s sorry she got caught, she’s not sorry to anybody. She needs to apologize, she needs to take accountability and recognize the hurt and devastation and trauma she’s caused countless people.”

While fighting back tears and immense frustration, Heimbecker wanted Boufford to originally plead guilty to take accountability for her actions and assist in the healing process for many people.

She is concerned about how Friday’s decision will impact future cases involving vulnerable roadside workers.

“It sends the wrong message. Drinking, driving and impairment is not f***ing okay. We need to keep our roadside workers safe, that is the responsibility of all drivers and she failed miserably. Completely unacceptable, my dad should still be here. He should be doing all the things in life that she gets to f***ing do. It’s unacceptable.”

Heimbecker added the judgment offers no closure.

“There will always be this gaping hole in my heart, this devastation and constant reminders that he should still here and she should be paying a far higher consequence that sets the tone for similar cases going forward and we need to increase our penalties for impaired driving, dangerous driving.”

For safety precautions, sheriffs escorted Boufford out the back door of the courthouse toward Front St. as Boufford refused to apologize or offer any comment.

Boufford has arranged to spend her two years of house arrest in Ontario with her parents. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW

Facts of the trial
Prior to hitting the two workers, justice Thompson concluded witness Dwayne Carson was rear-ended by the offender. Carson was one of several on-scene witnesses who testified at trial, including an experienced RCMP collision reconstructionist.

The construction zone speed limit at the time was 60 kilometres per hour, while the trial heard the scene featured ample approaching and on-scene safety indicators of cones, barrels, lights and high-visibility construction workers, including flaggers with flashlights.

Justice Thompson concluded evidence showed Boufford was travelling at least 79 kilometres per hour directly prior to the collisions.

“The video evidence allows me to confidently estimate that the Honda was travelling between twice and four times the speed of all other southbound vehicles that moved through the construction zone in the forty minutes before the collisions,” justice Thompson stated during his Aug. 13 decision.

Boufford did not testify at trial, nor did the defence call any witnesses.

Boufford was found not guilty of four alcohol related charges, most notably impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm, after justice Thompson ruled evidence secured by the first RCMP officer on scene were inadmissible.

The responding constable was determined to have made multiple on-scene breaches, as well as at the Nanaimo RCMP detachment, including not properly informing Boufford of her initial detention status or prompt access to a lawyer.

Boufford pleaded not guilty over a year ago, however, her trial was delayed when her attorneys made a partially successful Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms application, leading to the impairment charges not being tested in court.

Justice Thompson ruled the dangerous driving-related charges were not compromised, stating he found no reason to discern eyewitness testimony was obtained in a way which infringed Boufford’s rights.

-with files from Alex Rawnsley

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by Ian Holmes

‘Completely unacceptable:’ woman avoids jail for fatal Nanaimo area construction zone crash

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