A Shuswap man who killed a Kamloops motorcyclist three years ago has been let off of criminal wrongdoing.

Supreme Court Justice Dev Dley ruled Sorrento man Ray Swann not criminally responsible for killing Brian Watson with his truck in Magna Bay nearly three years ago, due to a mental disorder he had been suffering from at the time.

About two dozen of Watson’s family and friends filled the courtroom, and his brother-in-law Roland Mockford says the verdict is disappointing.

“You know it’s unfortunate, very, very unfortunate, with the verdict, that’s really bothering me. For everything that Mr. Swann is going to enjoy from now on, Brian will never enjoy that. No matter what.”

Swann admitted responsibility for killing Watson during his trial last month, but seeked to be deemed not criminally responsible for his charge criminal negligence causing harm.

Swann had told police he smoked two joints several hours before the crash happened, on April 3, 2016, but Justice Dev Dley ruled the crash was caused by psychosis that Swann had suffered from for several weeks after he stopped taking methadone to treat a back injury.

Watson’s wife, Ila, was emotional after hearing the verdict.

“I came to the conclusion that he’s destroyed my life for the past three years,” Watson said, fighting through tears outside the courtroom. “I’m not going to give him that pleasure of continuing to destroy my life. I have to move on.”

Watson was 60 years old when he was killed in the crash and had worked as a painter in the Kamloops School District.

“Everybody went to him for comfort, and it’s just a shame that we lost that,” Watson’s daughter Aleasha Scherk says.