“The message has to be if this court tells you not to drive, you don’t drive.” That was how provincial court judge Steven Merrick summed up his ruling after Kyle William Schroeder pled guilty to two counts of driving while prohibited on Feb. 27.
The day’s publicly posted court docket showed the accused facing 15 charges for disposition.Twelve relate to incidents that occurred in late 2024 and ranged from driving offences to break and enter, theft, robbery and unlawful confinement. Sentencing only proceeded on the two counts to which guilty pleas had been entered, with a court date of March 19 agreed to in relation to the other charges.
Schroeder, who was taken into custody on Feb. 10, the date the second "driving while prohibited" offence occurred, received a concurrent sentence of 27 days in jail. He was eligible for release at the hearing’s conclusion as he had served 18 days prior to appearing for sentencing on those charges. Bail conditions remain in place related to the other offences.
He was also ordered to pay $500 plus a $75 court surcharge for each of the two counts with payment required by March 3, 2026. A further one-year prohibition from driving was imposed and he was advised by the judge that it will be up to the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles to determine if he is eligible to have his drivers licence reinstated after the most recently imposed prohibition is completed.
At the hearing held in Sechelt, Crown counsel Tim McKelvey told the court that after receiving a licence suspension in August of last year, Schroeder was behind the wheel of a vehicle in the 11100 block of Sunshine Coast Highway, near Madeira Park on Oct. 15. He was pulled over by an RCMP officer who was aware that his driving privileges had been suspended and charges were laid.
On Feb. 10, according to the Crown’s submission, the RCMP received a report from a member of the public of damage to a vehicle in the area of the Garden Bay community where Schroeder was residing. When officers arrived at the scene, Schroeder who admitted he knew his licence was suspended, was determined to have been driving that vehicle and he was arrested.
