Winnipeg man handed 2-year sentence in drunk driving case

A Winnipeg man has been sentenced to 2 years behind barsin an impaired driving case that killed a 22-year-old man in 2010.

Brad Skawretko was also handed a five-year driving prohibition as part of his sentence on Tuesday. As well, he is ordered to provide a DNA sample.

Skawretkohad pleaded guilty to the November 2010 incident, in which he sped through a red light and T-boned Brett Yasinsky's vehiclenear McPhillips Street and Grassmere Road.

Yasinsky was on his way to pick up his girlfriend at the time of the crash. He was pronounced dead in hospital.

"It's been hell. It's been hard to work. It's been hard to do anything," Braeden Yasinsky, Brett's younger brother, told reporters outside court after sentencing.

"Anytime you have a clear thought, all it does is pop into your head. It just ruins your whole day. It ruins everything. It's just all negativeenergy you get from this."

• VIDEO | Memorial for Brett (2011)
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Yasinskys uncle Wayne Bodnarchuk said he still vividly recalls the day he came upon his nephew's accident.

When I finally saw my car, it was total disbelief, said Bodnarchuk. He was on his way to a movie, simple thing as that. He didn't make it.

The Crown had wanteda five-year sentence for Skawretko.

"Two and a half years for a life?" saidBraedenYasinsky, who expressed anger with the sentence Skawretko received.

Melodie Bodnarchuk,Yasinksy's aunt, saidtwo families are suffering as a result ofa needless, preventable tragedy.

"I know that he was directly responsible for Brett's death Mr.Skawretko, I'm talking about but seeing his mother suffer and his children suffer doesn't give me a lot of relief," she said outside court.

Since Yasinky's death, his family has become involved with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in hopes to help prevent tragedies like this from happening.

"It's too late for Brett, but the thing is every sixhours there is a Canadian that's getting killed out there," saidWayne Bodnarchuk. "The thing is it's totally preventable and totally senseless."