Driver in high-speed Fredericton crash gets $6,500 fine, 3-year driving ban
A Fredericton man who crashed his sports car at high speed into a tree near the Delta Hotel and injured his two passengers has avoided jail but will have to pay a $6,500 fine.
Pierre El-Khoury pleaded guilty in February to two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.
His sentence on Friday included an order to do 100 hours of community service and a three-year driving ban. He also cannot contact the two women who were passengers in his car.
Speed of at least of 114 km/h
El-Khoury lost control of his car at Rookwood Avenue and Woodstock Road early on May 7, 2016.
The car bounced off the curb, plowed through three mailboxes and hit a power pole before it was stopped by a tree. A collision analyst's report said the car accelerated to a minimum of 114 kilometres before the crash.
The only passengers, Shannon Dawn Brideau and Karen Peterson, were injured. Brideau had to be freed from the wreckage with the Jaws of Life, the hydraulic equipment used to cut open the metal on a car.
The sentencing hearing started earlier this month, but Judge Anne Dugas-Horsman said she needed more time to consider the case after hearing victim impact statements and recommendations from the Crown and defence.
On Friday, she said she considered both the Crown and the defence positions in deciding the sentence.
Crown prosecutor Renée Roy had told the court that El-Khoury has a history of speeding but no criminal record. Drawing from other cases that involved injuries from speeding, she asked for a jail sentence but didn't suggest a length of time.
Defence lawyer Patrick Hurley said El-Khoury was a first-time offender, took responsibility for his actions and was remorseful for what happened that night. He wrote a letter of apology as early as July 2016.
Hurley also stressed El-Khoury's community engagements, including fundraising and charitable donations.
Colossal error of judgment
Dugas-Horsman said El-Khoury had led a productive life until he made a "colossal error of judgment" that led to "devastating consequences."
She pointed out that Brideau was not wearing a seatbelt that night, and her injuries were at first misdiagnosed in hospital, which makes it difficult to determine "how much this caused worse injuries."
The crash caused Brideau nerve damage and she needed surgery — a 17-centimetre titanium plate to fix a broken clavicle.
Dugas-Horsman said both women suffered injuries, both physical and mental, that day, though none of them were life-threatening. It was "sheer luck that all three survived," she said.
She said there was no excuse for El-Khoury's behaviour and, at 58 years old, he "ought to know better." But he also showed sincere remorse and "total acceptance" of his guilt, she said.
She stressed that other than his eight speeding convictions in previous years, he never engaged in any illegal acts. She was "convinced that he will never engage in this type of behaviour again," she said.
El-Khoury has three months to pay his fine.
Women forgive El-Khoury
Shannon Dawn Brideau was not able to attend the sentencing but listened in over the phone. Karen Peterson told CBC News after the sentencing that she was glad the judge took the time to review the case.
While she was not completely satisfied with the sentence, she hoped El-Khoury learned from what happened.
"I am not surprised that he is not going to jail and quite honestly at this point, regardless of the sentence, I need to let go of the anger," she said. "So I am glad it's over."
She also said she and Brideau forgive El-Khoury. She knows that he is sorry for what happened and that he cares for their well-being, she said.
"I do know that this is probably eating him up inside," she said. "Regardless of what the judge could impose on him, what society and what his own mental state is doing to him, I suspect is justified."
