Calgary man convicted of manslaugher, is granted day parole

Hit and Run killer granted day parole

Driver who killed New Year's reveller granted day parole

- Just three years into a manslaughter rap for a deadly New Year’s Day hit-and-run, Samrat Dhuna has been granted day parole.

- Dhuna had been serving a 10-year sentence for plowing his van into a group of revellers outside a Kensington bar hours into 2006, which left 24-year-old Raminder Dhadda dead and severely injuring friends Karen Gill and Parminder Marahar.

- But after serving only one-third of his sentence, a parole panel in Abbotsford, B.C. Wednesday granted Dhuna day parole, allowing him to serve time in a community halfway house with the potential of full release after only six months.

- The news came as a blow to family and friends of Dhadda, some of whom flew to Abbotsford to present a petition started by Gill.

- Family friend Harinder Sajjan said allowing Dhuna back in the community after serving only a handful of years is painful and unfair.

- “At the end of the day, my friend’s not gong to come back and Karen to this day is 100 percent handicapped and this guy gets to go free,” she said.

- “It’s absolutely ridiculous that this is happening.”

- National parole board spokesman Darren Caul said while Dhuna will serve his custody in a different setting there are also many conditions that have been imposed, including a driving restriction, a ban on contact with victims and their families, an alcohol restriction and a requirement to take counselling.

- He added the board also denied his request for full parole.

- Dhuna, along with his brother Kanwar, who is also in prison, are both the subject of deportation proceedings and immigration officials had been planning to remove them both from Canada when their sentences are concluded.

- Officials from Canada Border Services Agency could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

- Sajjan said the ruling came as a shock and it will take some time to process the idea that the man who devastated so many may soon be walking free.

- “My thoughts, along with the majority of the family, was that there was no way that this was going to happen,” she said.

- “And now, everybody’s here’s still dealing with it and somehow he gets to get out — it’s just not fair.”

- The National Parole Board has released a Calgary man convicted of killing a woman after he plowed his van into a group of people at a Kensington New Year's celebration in 2006.

- This will allow him to live in a halfway house as he completes his 10-year sentence for manslaughter, aggravated assault, hit and run, and assault with a weapon (the van).

- Dhuna killed Raminder Dhadda and injured several others when he deliberately rammed his van into a group of people leaving a private New Year's Eve party on Jan. 1, 2006. 

- Dhadda, 24, was killed instantly and two of her friends were critically hurt and left with injuries that required extensive rehabilitation.

- The fatal collision happened after Dhuna, who was 18 at the time, and a group of friends were involved in some fights outside after being denied entry to the private party at Sam's Bar & Grill on Kensington Crescent N.W.

Dhuna jumped into the van and drove the wrong way down the street into the crowd, then sped away.

The parole board will review Dhuna's case again in six months.

I completely agree with the decision to grant this man day parole. People convicted of a crime, are going to be released at some point in their lives, we can't change that, and it is the best interests of the rest of society, to reintegrate these people gradually, and teach them how to live in society, act in socially appropriate ways and become productive and law abiding, by providing them with treatment, counselling, and opportunity. We don't want to just release these offenders "cold turkey" where they have no skills, no support and have been in prison for years and don't know how to live in society. It is essential that we release them gradually and I think that this was the right decision.