LONDON, ONT. -- Victim impact statements were delivered Friday in the sentencing hearing for a London police officer convicted in the death of Debra Chrisjohn.
Const. Nicholas Doering was found guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing death in the case.
Chrisjohhn, 39, died of cardiac arrest due to drugs, after being transferred from the custody of London police to the OPP for an outstanding charge.
Speaking tearfully in court, Doering said to the Chrisjohn family, "If I was able to take your pain and suffering away I would in an instant."
Chrisjohn's sister Cindy Chrisjohn told the court she thinks of her sister every day.
"The cruelty of her death overwhelms the kind and gentleness of her soul and for that I am angry...Instead of a hospital bed...she had a jail cell, she wasn't given a chance to live and we weren't given a chance to say goodbye."
Alissa Chrisjohn, Debra's eldest daughter, told the court, "I can only imagine how lonely she felt when she was scrambling for help the day of her death...Every ceremony that comes by I wish we could go together."
The Crown is asking for 20 to 30 months in jail while the defence is asking for a suspended sentence.
Doering will be sentenced on March 16.
