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The Owen Sound courthouse

The Owen Sound courthouse

A three-time drunk driver whose truck spun into the porch of a house on 10th St. E., causing a child to be ejected from the vehicle, was sentenced to six months in jail and lost his driver’s licence for three years.

Peter Goodall, 52, of 992 3rd Ave. E. unit 205, Owen Sound, was sentenced Thursday in the Ontario Court of Justice. He pleaded guilty in September to impaired driving causing bodily harm and to provincial offences of driving without insurance and to failing to ensure a toddler was properly secured May 4 in Owen Sound.

The crash around 3:45 p.m. took place in the 400-block of 10th St. E. Goodall’s truck knocked over a concrete light standard before colliding with the front porch.

The child’s father, who was seated in the passenger seat of the pickup truck and believes he was not wearing a seat belt, received a head injury — a flap of skin on his scalp which caused lots of bleeding. But he suffered no lasting injury.

His four-year-old boy who was ejected from the pickup truck sustained no injuries, doctors at hospital in Owen Sound determined. That fact prompted the Crown not to proceed on a second impaired-bodily harm count.

Martin told the court that when police arrived, Goodall was screaming frantically “it’s all my fault, it’s all my fault.” There was an empty beer can between the driver’s seat and seat belt, Martin told the court on the plea date.

The front-seat passenger told police he’d asked Goodall to give him and his boy a ride to the mall. But he didn’t know Goodall had been drinking, he told police.

Breath tests showed Goodall had consumed 3.75 times the limit of alcohol under the Criminal Code to drive. He had prior drinking and driving convictions in 1990 and 2010. This was Goodall’s first jail sentence.

Defence lawyer Jill Gamble, who with the Crown recommended the six-month jail sentence, said Goodall is an alcoholic. He has undertaken counselling with a court worker and intends to attend Alcoholics Anonymous while in jail, Gamble said.

He’s “extremely remorseful” and a “very good law-abiding citizen” otherwise.

Justice Julia Morneau called it a miracle the child wasn’t injured and she noted the child’s father’s injuries healed. In addition to jail and the driving prohibition, she reduced the $5,000 set fine for driving without insurance by exercising her discretion and imposed $2,000. A 25% provincial surcharge added $500 to that fine. She granted relief because of Goodall’s tight finances and difficulties finding work.

Mandatory victim surcharges on the criminal counts added $200 more. A DNA sample was ordered.

Morneau also imposed a recommended $125 fine and surcharge for failing to secure the child properly, which the Crown recommended.

Martin said that modest fine recommendation didn’t reflect the seriousness of the offence. However, what happened to the child was already relied on in part to support the jail sentence recommended, he said.


Source: Owen Sound Sun Times