A massage therapist crashed his vehicle while more than double the drink-drive limit, causing his passenger to be hospitalized for her injuries.
Philip Simons pleaded guilty to impaired driving at Jasper court December 12.
The court heard that on August 30, 2019, at 6 a.m. the RCMP were called to a single-vehicle incident on Maligne Lake Road.
Paramedics were already on the scene tending to the passenger, who had a cut on her arm that required stitches, and told the cops the driver might be intoxicated.
And when Constable Patrick Vallee demanded a breath sample, Simons failed the roadside test.
Simons was arrested for suspected impaired driving and taken to the Jasper detachment, where he gave two further samples of breath.
The breath samples both read 190 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 80 milligrams.
Prosecutor Aaron Rankin said the passenger had declined to give a victim impact statement but continues to receive physiotherapy for her injury.
He said the woman, who is also a massage therapist, was advised to take months off work and think about if she should pursue her occupation.
“What happened here is highly concerning,” said Rankin.
Simons’ lawyer, Curtis Steeves, said the incident was “a dark time” for Simons.
He said the event was “a serious wake-up call” that has caused Simons to stop drinking.
Judge Shaigec said those in the justice system can sometimes lose sight of the nature of impaired driving because of the frequency of cases.
“This drives home how absolutely dangerous impaired driving is,” said the judge.
“We draw a line between making it home or causing serious death or injury to others.
“We have a person here who is injured, a friend of yours, and you have to live with that and it is a considerable burden.”
Simons was fined $2,990 with 12 months probation and a 18-month driving ban.
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Guilty plea in hotel assault
A man who attacked a woman in a Jasper hotel room has pleaded guilty to assault.
Ahren Heuther and the woman were staying at the Crimson Hotel on September 30, 2018.
Jasper court heard that the couple, who were sharing a room with their two young children, got into a verbal dispute late in the evening.
“That escalated and a neighbour in the hotel heard a woman scream for help,” said Aaron Rankin, prosecuting.
“In the course of the altercation he pushed her causing her head to come into contact with a mirror closet door in the hotel room which was shattered.”
Rankin said the neighbour repeatedly called the front desk asking for security, police and an ambulance.
And when the neighbour opened her door, she found the woman halfway outside the hotel door with blood around her head.
The woman was taken to hospital and had to receive four stitches to close her wounds.
At the time, Huether was under conditions to not contact the woman or drink alcohol. He pleaded guilty to the two breaches.
Judge Shaigec ordered a presentence report for these matters and adjourned the case to January 9 to set a sentencing date.
