KITCHENER — An impaired driver travelling 214 km/h on Highway 7/8 just west of Kitchener killed a young mother, critically injured her baby and devastated the child's father.

On Monday, Ahmed Darwish, 27, showed no reaction in court as he was handcuffed and taken away after being sentenced to 7½ years in prison.

The Kitchener man was behind the wheel of a Mercedes travelling a hair below the car's maximum speed when it slammed into the back of a Mazda 3, killing Susana Dumitru and injuring her two-month-old son, George.

The crash happened Nov. 27 around 7:45 p.m. on Highway 7/8 near Trussler Road. The speed limit is 90. The Mazda rolled several times, ejecting Dumitru, 29, who was a passenger.

Her husband, Razvan Dumitru, the driver of the Mazda, told the sentencing hearing his wife died in his arms.

"She was my lover, my best friend, my business partner, the mother of my child," the soft-spoken man said in a teary victim impact statement he read out loud. "Susana was my universe.

"I will never forget this Christmas; instead of buying her a Christmas present I bought her a coffin," Dumitru added. "Instead of spending New Year's Eve together, I took her back to Romania and put her body to rest in a cold and dark place in the cemetery."

The Dumitrus moved to Canada from Romania in April 2016. He is a construction engineer and she was an architect. They lived in Baden before moving to London and were planning on building their own home.

Soon after the crash, Dumitru was told his son might die. He was on life support and has a catastrophic brain injury.

"The doctor's prediction for him is that he will have a lifetime of severe handicaps and limitations," he said. "George will never be able to have an independent living or reach his God-given potential that he had when we first met him at birth."

The crash also injured Dumitru and Dumitru's mother.

Dumitru summed up how he feels: "I can't smile anymore; I'm crying each day and night. The physical injuries we suffered are incomparable with the pain in our souls. I feel terrified. I lost everything I had. I'm wondering at times what I am living for. How can I call this a life?"

Justice John Lynch said it's important for courts to continue to send the message that impaired driving causing injury or death will be treated seriously.

But he said no sentence will undo the damage done.

"He speaks of the void that is left," Lynch said. "This court has nothing to offer that could fill that void."

Darwish, who wore a dress shirt and tie in court, was convicted in 2009 of driving with more than the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.

Just before last year's crash, Darwish, the lone occupant of the Mercedes, was tailgating another car and swerving between the two westbound lanes, according to an agreed statement of facts.

Darwish then blew past another driver, an off-duty Waterloo Regional Police sergeant, and struck the Mazda.

After the crash, the sergeant approached Darwish, who had slurred speech and dilated pupils. The officer arrested him for impaired driving.

An OPP officer said Darwish smelled of alcohol and had red, glassy eyes. Open bottles of bourbon and wine were found in the Mercedes.

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"I had a few drinks and smoked a little marijuana," he told police.

Darwish was also taking Adderall, a prescription drug to treat ADHD.

At the police station, he was asked 17 times for a breath sample and five times to do a drug test. He refused every request.

"Do you think you're sober right now?" an officer asked him at the police station.

"No," Darwish replied.

The former financial adviser pleaded guilty to five charges; impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and refusing to give a breath sample.

After credit for presentence custody, Darwish has another seven years to serve. He faces a 10-year driving and weapons ban and was ordered to provide a DNA sample.

Defence lawyer Hal Mattson sought a prison sentence of six years. He said his client had an unstable upbringing, living in Kuwait, Bulgaria and Jordan before coming to Canada.

Darwish turned to alcohol to deal with stress, Mattson said. He realizes he has a drinking problem and took counselling after the crash.

Crown prosecutor Michael Michaud asked for a 10-year sentence, pointing to 13 aggravating factors. He called Darwish's speed "staggering."

"They were struck at 214 km/h. Three generations were in that car. It flipped multiple times. The fact that more weren't killed or seriously injured has nothing to do with the conduct here. It's pure luck."

Michaud added that the message of not drinking and driving is still lost on some people.

"How many more have to die? How many more families forever marked by tragedy before the message finally gets through?"