Drunk driver in P.E.I. gets jail for crash that injured four people

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who drove drunk into an oncoming car whereas almost 5 instances over the authorized alcohol restrict has been sentenced for impaired driving inflicting bodily hurt. 

On Might 10, Choose Nancy Orr sentenced the driving force – Matthew James Taylor, 27 – to 1 12 months in jail and two years of probation in provincial courtroom in Charlottetown for the offence. Taylor was additionally banned from driving for 2 years and ordered to carry out 100 hours of group service. Taylor might have the choice to pay $10 for every hour of group service to the Queens County Dependancy Centre. 

Crown legal professional Lisa Goulden really useful 14-18 months in jail for the offence whereas Taylor’s lawyer, Maggie Hughes, really useful 4 to 6 months. 

Taylor pleaded responsible to the cost at a earlier courtroom look. 

At sentencing, Orr recounted the details of the incident. On Wednesday, Nov. 3, at round 1:40 p.m. in Scotchfort, Taylor was driving a white Nissan Qashqai that crossed the centre line and crashed into an oncoming crimson Kia Soul. The collision prompted the Kia to go off the street and flip onto its aspect in a ditch. 4 girls contained in the Kia have been taken to the hospital with accidents.  

The Queens District RCMP responded to the scene shortly after and positioned Taylor. The white Nissan was nonetheless on the street about 300 metres from the flipped Kia. A police officer seen that Taylor had indicators of impairment, similar to being unsteady on his toes, slurred speech and an odor of alcohol coming from his breath. 

Taylor was arrested and brought to the Maypoint Street RCMP detachment the place he supplied two breathalyzer samples at 3:13 p.m. and three:34 p.m. The readings have been 380 and 390 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood – almost 5 instances over the authorized restrict of 80 mg. 

A pre-sentence report outlining Taylor’s related background data was ready to help the courtroom with sentencing.  

Do you know?

• Anybody who suspects or is conscious of a harmful driver ought to name 911 instantly in a protected method. 
• The P.E.I. RCMP says offering data when potential similar to a car description, location, licence plate and route of journey will help police get harmful drivers off the street.

Taylor was born in Waterloo, Ont., and moved to P.E.I. together with his household about three years in the past. Taylor attended two years of college in Ontario however dropped out as a result of he misplaced deal with his research on account of partying an excessive amount of, stated Orr. 

In P.E.I., Taylor was working as a line prepare dinner however misplaced his job in 2021 due to alcohol and psychological well being points. Taylor has additionally been hospitalized a variety of instances due to these points. Particularly, Taylor was concerned in a single-vehicle crash in 2020 after ingesting alcohol however wasn’t charged criminally. As an alternative, his P.E.I. graduated driver’s license was suspended for 90 days due to alcohol in his system, stated Orr. 

At one level, Taylor was consuming 20 alcoholic drinks per day. Even so, Taylor has largely resisted or refused packages and therapy efforts to assist together with his alcohol dependancy and psychological well being points. In a single occasion, Taylor attended an Alcoholics Nameless assembly however determined not to return as a result of it was “too miserable,” Orr stated.   

Till Taylor takes important steps to acknowledge and tackle his alcohol and psychological well being points, Orr stated he can be a “persevering with menace to the general public.”  

With respect to Nov. 3, Taylor stated within the pre-sentence report that he did not keep in mind the crash. 

Primarily based on sufferer affect statements filed with the courtroom, Orr additionally spoke in courtroom concerning the accidents and emotional affect that the 4 girls, who’re sisters, are nonetheless coping with immediately on account of the crash. On that day, they have been going out collectively for a meal after receiving their pension cheques. 

Orr stated there is no such thing as a doubt the incident has had an affect on their well being and their means to get pleasure from their lives the identical method they did previous to the crash.  

Their bodily accidents embrace important bruising, cuts, soreness and concussions. The psychological and emotional accidents embrace waking up screaming at night time and the continued worry of driving on a freeway.  

Taylor wasn’t injured within the Nov. 3 drunk driving crash.  

He did not have a previous felony report.  

Terrence McEachern is a justice reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. @terry_mcn