A young driver was sentenced to five years in jail for causing the death of his 19-year-old girlfriend while driving under the influence of alcohol and cannabis, finally allowing the victim’s mother to start his grief.
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“I will be able to start it [mon deuil]. With everything I had in my head, it haunted me, loose on the line, Manon Potvin. It turns a family upside down for the rest of their lives.”
On the night of June 23 to 24, 2021, Yanick Mathieu was driving with his brother and his girlfriend, Jolyane Potvin, on his way back from an evening at the Saint-Eustache drive-in theater, in the Laurentians.
The accused, however, lost control of the car, which ran aground in a ditch, in Saint-Ferdinand, in Centre-du-Québec.
Photo taken from Jolyane Potvin’s Facebook account
Jolyane Potvin, 19, died after returning from an evening at the Saint-Eustache ciné-parc. Her boyfriend, Yanick Mathieu, was intoxicated by alcohol and cannabis.
“I will go inside”
According to the documents presented in court, Jolyane Potvin, who had regular stomach pains due to Crohn’s disease, did not have her seat belt and slept in the back of the vehicle.
“My girlfriend is dead, the driver panicked in the moments following the accident, according to a court document. I will go inside. I’m in trouble.”
The one who was driving at a speed of between 110 and 115 km / h in a zone of 90 km / h claimed to have made a maneuver to avoid a vehicle. He also swore he was unaffected by the four beers and the cannabis joint consumed earlier that evening.
ARCHIVE PHOTO, QMI AGENCY (YVES CHARLEBOIS)
Saying he wanted to avoid another vehicle, Yanick Mathieu lost control of his own, which ran aground in the ditch, in Saint-Ferdinand, in Centre-du-Québec.
However, after presenting a guilty plea, the 27-year-old man was sentenced on May 12 to 5 years in jail for impaired driving causing death.
hell
Today, a form of relief is palpable in the voice of Manon Potvin.
The mother-of-five had been troubled since her daughter’s death that the accused was not incarcerated.
“I ran into him all the time, it was hell. I prevented myself from going out”, testifies Manon Potvin, also describing the “rage to know it in freedom”.
Photo Facebook Manon Potvin
Members of the family of Jolyane Potvin, who died in a road accident in June 2021. In order: Cassiel Fugère (bru), Karl Potvin (son), Lucas Pouliot (son), Noémie Simoneau (bru), Keven Potvin (son), Jonathan Lacroix (son-in-law), Mélissa Potvin (daughter). Manon Potvin’s husband, Patrick Pouliot, holds a photo of Jolyane in his hand.
Despite “very long” legal proceedings, she was able to count on the attentive ear of the Crown prosecutor Me Julien Beauchamp-Laliberté.
“He didn’t have to take time with the rest of us, but he took it. We called and wrote often, ”says Mme Potwine.
Regret
The 52-year-old woman regrets, however, that even today, Yanick Mathieu is struggling to take full responsibility for the tragedy.
Photo taken from Yanick Mathieu’s Facebook account
Yanick Mathieu, 27 years old.
Indeed, the offender “does not consider that his consumption had an impact on his driving, indicates the pre-sentence report. He expresses regrets to us, but which are mainly related to the personal consequences experienced following the accident”.
Yanick Mathieu, however, admitted having driven a car whose tires were “worn”.
An experienced mechanic who contributed to the police investigation concluded that “the vehicle was not roadworthy”.