Paul Wettlaufer sat looking stoic in the witness stand, answering questions about his feelings on what has happened since the tragic evening he hit 13-year-old Carley Regan with his car and drove away in 2003.

His feelings didn’t come, because as he told Crown counsel Don Wilson on Monday afternoon, he has difficulty expressing himself.

He didn’t offer an apology to the Regans, but he did say if he could change the past he would.

“It has been traumatic for both the Regans and my family,” he said in Surrey Provincial courtroom 107.

The Regan family and friends filled one side of the courtroom gallery. The other side was filled with media and some of his supporters who testified on his behalf.

“It [the 2003 deadly crash] always makes you remember the past and it reminds me to be better in the future,” said Wettlaufer, who testified he has been clean and sober since the crash. He also said he has not driven since 2003.

Wettlaufer, who was found guilty of the hit-and-run death of Carley, wants his 10-year driving prohibition to end early so he can get back behind the wheel.

He is banned from driving under the Motor Vehicle Act until 2013.

But he has to wait to find out. He will appear in court again on Sept. 11.

After testimony by Wettlaufer, his wife and stepdaughter, Judge William Stewart agreed with Crown that a neutral voice was needed.

Wettlaufer’s probation officer will be a deciding factor, having to provide an updated report, including a new interview with him, and information on how Wettlaufer has conducted himself since the prohibition.

In the end, the probation officer will be asked to make a recommendation of whether he should or shouldn’t drive. Stewart also asked both lawyers to define what is in the public’s interest in making the decision.

Carley’s father Barry sat in the front row of the courtroom with the support of victim activist Nina Rivet, whose sister Irene Thorpe was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 2000.

“Over and over again he was asked whether he has driven again and he said ‘no.’ I’ve had people say ‘I’ve seen Paul driving.’ I have a court document that says he was driving,” said Barry afterwards.

On Oct. 19, 2006, Wettlaufer was charged with driving while prohibited. But that charged was stayed once Crown knew that he was driving at the Surrey Fraser Docks, on private property where he works.

“He should not have been driving, period,” said Barry.

Welling up with tears, Barry said it is hard to speak out and be in the courtroom, ‘reliving it all over again.”

After Stewart adjourned court, Wettlaufer ran from the TV news cameras into a waiting car. Stewart was the original judge who handed him a 14-month sentence (of which he served 10) and the driving ban.

In his sentencing of Wettlaufer, he called him ‘an insensitive coward’ who calculated his actions so he could never be caught. After hitting Carley, her sister and their friend while the young group were rollerblading, he removed the licence plates on his car, towed it home and hid it at the back of his lot.

“(Wettlaufer’s) actions thereafter can only be described as reprehensible, completely self-centred, and calculated (so) that he would never be identified,” Stewart said at the time of sentencing.

“I doubt he’ll ever say he’s sorry,” said Barry about Wettlaufer.

“People don’t want people like him driving. A leopard doesn’t change its stripes,” said Barry.

In court, Wilson asked Wettlaufer why he thinks he drank so excessively and got behind the wheel on so many occasions.

Wettlaufer has numerous drunk driving convictions, speeding tickets and 24-hour impaired driving offenses dating back to 1991. When he struck Carley, he was suspended from driving.

“I guess some bad relationships, bad judgements on my behalf,” he said to why he drank. “I should have sought sobriety, but it’s like any addiction. It’s hard to break away.”

His lawyer Russ Chamberlain said he himself is a recovering alcoholic and trusts that Wettlaufer hasn’t drank.

“I’ve stayed in touch with him over the years and to the best of my ability I believe he is sober,” he said.

Wettlaufer attended a 30-day alcohol treatment centre in Kelowna and AA meetings up until 2007. He also attended counselling sessions.

His wife Catherine Hoekstra testified that he is a good husband and father to her three children and that he deserves to move on and ‘get his life back.’ He is the sole provider.

She testified she did not know about his previous driving convictions or that his licence was suspended the night he hit Carley.

She said she didn’t talk to him about his drinking problem at any time.

Long-time family friend Eileen Kleinfelder told reporters later that Wettlaufer is a changed man who has a lot of remorse.

“After all these years he wants to get back and forth to work to support his family,” she said. “He doesn’t know why he left the scene. I feel really bad for the Regans but I feel even more bad she (Carley) wasn’t wearing a helmet.”