A 21-year-old driver has been sentenced to four years in prison for hitting and killing a cyclist on a Toronto roadway back in 2015 and subsequently fleeing the scene.
Mitchell Irwin was handed several charges after he sped into the intersection of Davenport and Avenue roads on June 13, 2015 and crashed into 26-year-old Adam Excell.
Police said Excell was attempting to turn left onto Davenport Road when he was struck.
Irwin, who was 19 at the time, left the area after colliding with Excell and drove to his home in Keswick, Ont.
He turned himself in the next day.
Last week, Irwin pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, failing to remain at the scene of a crash and violating bail conditions.
He was sentenced to four years in prison plus a six-year driving ban on Monday.
The Crown previously asked the judge to sentence Irwin to four years in prison and a 10-year driving ban, calling Irwin's failure to remain at the scene a "morally bankrupt crime."
The court heard that Irwin was travelling 80 km/h in an area where the posted speed limit was 50.
Adam’s father, Andrew Excell, told CTV News Toronto back in 2015 that his son had chosen to ride his bike instead of drive, just for the week.
He said the family worried about him cycling in Toronto “all the time.”
Friends, family and fellow cyclists erected a ghost bike for Excell in the wake of the tragedy.
It remains in the spot he was killed, covered in written tributes to the fallen cyclist.
