Five-year sentence for man who caused death of off-duty police officer

A B.C. man has been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in the death of an off-duty Abbotsford police officer.

B.C. prosecutors say Alex Willness received 405 days' credit for the time he spent in custody before being sentence, and was ordered to serve the remaining nearly four years in prison.

Fifty-five-year-old Const. Allan Young died several days after a July 2020 altercation while he was visiting Nelson, B.C.

Willness, who is from Castlegar, B.C., was charged about eight months later.

Young moved to Canada from Scotland in 1997 and spent four years with the Toronto Police Service before joining Abbotsford police in 2004.

A statement from the Abbotsford Police Department calls Young's death "senseless and unnecessary" but adds that it is glad the prosecution resulted in the conviction.

"However, nothing will bring Const. Young back to his loving family or back to us at the AbbyPD," the statement says.

"Const. Young and his family remain in our thoughts and our hearts."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2024.