A Canadian woman who stopped her car on a highway to rescue a group of ducklings, which led to the deaths of two people, has been sentenced to three months in jail.
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Emma Czornobaj, 26, was driving on Highway 30 in a suburb of Montreal in June 2010 when she saw about seven ducklings on the road.
She stopped her Honda Civic in the left-hand lane and tried to put the ducklings into the car.
She did not turn her hazard lights on.
Andre Roy, 50, was riding on a Harley Davidson motorbike with his 16-year-old daughter Jessie on the back.
The motorbike crashed into the back of Ms Czornobaj's car.
Jessie was thrown into the car and then against a concrete road barrier. The car, propelled forward by the impact of the motorcycle, then ran over her body.
Mr Roy died at the scene. Jessie died at Montreal Children's Hospital hours later.
"I just wanted to pick all those ducklings up and put them in my car," Czornobaj testified during her trial.
The ducks did not apparently want to be helped and she was returning to her car when the accident happened.
Justice Eliane Perreault faulted Czornobaj's trial testimony that she had done nothing wrong.
"There was no risk of somebody running into my car when I stopped," Czornobaj said at the time.
"I didn't see anybody else. I knew that it was, well, safe."
In June, a jury convicted her of two counts of criminal negligence causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, the National Post reported. Criminal negligence causing death carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Thousands signed an online petition calling for leniency for Czornobaj.
However, Mr Roy's wife and Jessie's mother Pauline Volikakis spoke of the pain she continues to suffer.
Czornobaj was sentenced to 90 days in prison. She was banned from driving for 10 years and required to undertake 240 hours of community service.
She was set to serve her jail time on weekends.
Fairfax Media
