Calgary gas-and-dash killer will be allowed to drive again: Court of Appeal

The Calgary man who drove over a Centex employee during a gas-and-dash theft must serve his 11-year sentence but will be allowed to drive again, the Alberta Court of Appeal has ruled.

Joshua Mitchell was convicted of manslaughter in the June 2015 death of Maryam Rashidi.

Rashidi had chased after Mitchell who was driving a stolen truck and tried to stop him from stealing $113 in fuel.

• 'I feel bad for him': Mother of woman killed in gas-and-dash reacts to 11-year sentence

Last week, defence lawyer Balfour Der argued before a panel of Alberta Court of Appeal judges that Mitchell's manslaughter sentence was too long.

In his arguments, prosecutor Brian Graff told the judges that Mitchell's sentence fit the "terrible and violent crime."

The panel of judges dismissed the appeal but did rule Mitchell's driving prohibition be reduced from a lifetime ban to10 years.

In fact, the panelnoted the trial judgereduced the hit-and-run sentence from theprosecution's proposal oftwo years, despite Mitchell"leaving the broken body of Ms. Rashidi on the road but engaging in a hazardous driving pattern to escape."

Mitchell's 11-yearprison sentence breaks down to 10 for manslaughter and one for the hit-and-run conviction.

Rashidi was working at the gas station when she ran after the truck andclimbed on its hood while it was stuck in traffic on 16th AvenueN.W.

Mitchell tried to jostle her off but she eventually fell under thevehicle, which then drove over her, causing fatal injuries.

Rashidi's death didn't end her family's story of tragedy;just weeks after Mitchell was convicted, while travelling to Calgary to mark the two-year anniversary of his wife's death, AhmadNouraniShallo was killed in a car accident, leaving their eight-year-old son an orphan.

Rashidi, her husband and their young son had moved to Calgary from Iran just months before she died. The couple came to Canada for engineering jobs in the oil and gas industry, but were laid off shortly after arriving in Calgary.

She hadtaken the job at the Centex station to help make ends meet and was working just her fourth shift when she was killed.

Mitchell was originally charged with second-degree murder. Defence lawyer Kim Ross secured a conviction on the lesser offence of manslaughter following a trial.

The 10-year driving prohibition begins after Mitchell is released from prison.

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