The victims and grieving relatives of a Canadian truck crash, in which 16 people died, will have to wait until March to learn the driver’s sentence.

Following an emotionally charged week of victim impact statements, the judge overseeing the case has asked for nearly two months to consider how to sentence the driver, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu. On 6 April last year, his semi-trailer truck collided with the bus of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team after he failed to stop at an intersection in central Saskatchewan.

Sidhu had previously pleaded guilty to all 29 charges he faced — including 16 counts of dangerous driving causing death. Young hockey players, coaches, a trainer and a radio announcer were among those killed. The crown had asked for a 10-year prison sentence and a further 10 years of suspended driving.

As part of the sentencing, 75 written victim impact statements were submitted to the court, with 65 read by friends and family over a four-day period. Some included grim details of the parents being unable to fully identify their children – and the tragic extent of some injuries.

“I will not get to watch him experience the joys of being a father … the list of things we will not experience with him will never end,” Logan Boulet’s father, Toby, told the gymnasium-turned-courtroom in Melfort, Saskatchewan. “I just want to hold my boy … I hurt everywhere.”

Some of those who survived the crash were left with severe injuries, including two who remain paralysed.

Kaleb Dahlgren, survivor of the bus crash carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, pictured in the York Lions hockey team locker room at York University in Toronto. Photograph: Dave Chan/for the Guardian

Kaleb Dahlgren’s skull was fractured and six vertebrae in his neck and back were broken, Dahlgren’s father Mark told reporters. “I hope that Mr Sidhu is able to hear about how wonderful the people were that were involved in the accident – the people that survived and the people that passed away,” he said. In a near-miraculous turn of events, Dahlgren made a full recovery and recently signed to play hockey for York Lions at York University in Toronto, Ontario.

Some chose to forgive Sidhu, arguing that he likely carries the heavy burden of seeing the devastation caused by his recklessness. “I have been forgiven for things I didn’t deserve, and I will forgive you the same,” said Christina Haugan, who lost her husband, Darcy, the Bronco’s head coach.

Others were less charitable. “All of this grief was caused by you,” said Jaxon Joseph’s mother, Andrea, calling Sidhu an “arrogant and inconsiderate monster” for his failure to stop despite multiple road signs.

The hearing also revealed new information about the accident. Sidhu had accumulated 70 violations of federal and provincial trucking regulations in the days leading up to the crash – meaning he should not have been allowed on the road at the time of the accident, according to documents presented in court. He had only been driving trucks for three weeks prior to the crash, and the week of the crash was his first time alone on the highway.

“If Jaskirat Singh Sidhu had been stopped and inspected on April 6 2018 prior to the incident, he would have been placed under a 72-hour out of service declaration … preventing him from operating a commercial vehicle,” the report said.

Among those violations were repeated failures to account for time spent driving and location of breaks, meant to prevent driver fatigue.

Prior to the accident, Sidhu was not drunk, high or distracted when he failed to stop, nor was he speeding when he ran through a stop sign, according to the statement of facts.

“I can’t even imagine what you guys are going through, or what you have been through,” Sidhu told the families of victims and the court, at times breaking down. “I have taken the most valuable things of your life.”

“I feel you have remorse for your actions … I don’t think you are a terrible person … I think you were grossly unqualified to be in the road that day,” said Chris Joseph, Jaxon Joseph’s father, told Sidhu earlier in the week. “I hope I find forgiveness. I hope you find peace. I hope the industry changes so this never happens again.”

The judge has said she will deliver the sentence on 22 March 2019.

• This article was amended on 4 February 2019. The subheading of an earlier version said that the semi-trailer truck struck the hockey players’ coach.