Courier van driver sentenced to 5 years prison in fatal highway crash

A courier van driver has been sentenced to five years in prison for causing a fatal accident while drinking and driving.

Stephen Michael Quinn, 56ofCornwall, was sentenced in P.E.I. Supreme Court Wednesday.

Court heard Wednesday hehad three times the legal limit for alcohol in his system, and was working as a delivery van driver at the time of the accident.

Melissa Palmer, 36, of Eldon died of injuries she sustained in the collision, which happened on March 5 of last year.

Quinn pleaded guilty in October to driving over the legal limit, causing the death.

An agreed statement of facts said Quinn crossed the centre line while coming around a curve in the highway, and he collided head on with Palmer's car. Palmer died the next day.

An analysis after the accident showed that Quinn was driving between 99 and 108 km/h seconds before the collision. Neither vehicle had time to apply the brakes.

Before lawyers made their arguments, the court heard victim impact statements. Five were filed and three of them were read in court.

"She loved her life on the island," said Palmer's mother, Cynthia Craft.

"She was so loving and kind until the day she passed. She donated all her organs so others could live on."

Her sister and uncle read statements as well.

Quinn also spoke at the hearing.

"It didn't have to happen. It's my fault. The pain and suffering I caused, I am truly sorry and I deserve what I get," he said.

Remorse does not diminish offence

In delivering her sentence, Justice Jacqueline Matheson said Quinn was solely responsible for Palmer's death.

"He drank the night before. He drank that day, knowing he was working," said Matheson.

"He seems to understand the extreme impact this has had on the family I believe he is genuinely remorseful but this does not diminish what he did."

Matheson noted the range of sentences for drinking and driving has increased in recent years.

In addition to the prison term, the judge banned Quinn from driving for 10 years.

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