Kenneth Jacob Fenton and his passenger “very, very lucky” to be alive

A Langford man who is already serving time for a high-profile crash that killed a Mountie in 2016 has now pleaded guilty to charges relating to another incident in the Malahat area just a few weeks later.

Kenneth Jacob Fenton was sentenced in 2017 to four years in prison after crashing his pickup truck into the police cruiser of West Shore RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett, a mother of two, on April 5, 2016. On Monday, Fenton pleaded guilty to two of three counts stemming from a crash that took place on May 22, 2016, causing serious injuries to a female passenger.

SEE RELATED: More than 100 gather in Langford to remember Const. Sarah Beckett

SEE RELATED: Fenton gets four years for crash that killed cop

Shortly after the second crash then-Malahat fire chief Rob Patterson said Fenton and his passenger, Megan Ashe, were “very, very lucky.”

Ashe later filed a civil suit.

SEE RELATED: New charges against Langford man guilty in crash

Neither Fenton nor Ashe were wearing seat belts, Patterson said, and both were tossed around, but remained in the vehicle as the green Chevy pickup “left the road with a high rate of speed … It came to rest about 100 feet from where it hit the bank.” He estimated that the truck was airborne for up to 60 feet, passing over shrubs and other vegetation before finally coming to a stop near the Goldstream Heights Drive and Finlayson View Place intersection, a paved stretch of roadway accessible off south Shawnigan Lake Road.

Police had been attempting to stop Fenton at a road check when he fled.

SEE RELATED: Occupants in Sunday morning crash lucky to be alive: Malahat Fire Chief

Fenton was charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, causing an accident resulting in bodily harm, and flight causing bodily harm.

Fenton appeared in a Duncan courtroom Monday morning. Dan McLaughlin, communications counsel for the B.C. Prosecution Service, confirmed he pleaded guilty to the charges related to driving over 0.08 and causing an accident resulting in bodily harm (CCC – 255(2)) as well as failing to stop for police (CCC – 249.1(3).

Beckett’s widower, Brad Aschenbrenner, was in the courtroom Monday.

Fenton’s next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday July 3 at 9:30 a.m. at the Duncan Law Courts.

READ MORE: The Fenton Archives