Justice imposed the heaviest sentence ever imposed on a driver in the history of Quebec, Friday morning. Éric Légaré, who took the lives of four people last fall, is sentenced to 16 years in prison, unheard of for this kind of crime.
On September 2, in an area limited to 70 km / h, Éric Légaré had struck the stopped car of the Fletcher-Lemieux family at more than 130 km / h. On board: Shellie Fletcher-Lemieux and her father James in the front, Emma Lemieux and her older brother Jackson in the back. Aged, respectively, 44, 68, 10 and 14 years old at the time of the tragedy.
The driver was heavily intoxicated at the back of his steering wheel after an afternoon spent putting on glasses at the Pub du Parvis, located in the Saint-Roch district. His bill, when he left the establishment, was close to $100, the cumulative price of seven glasses of wine and three shooters.
Videos captured inside the pub and shown to the court during the trial showed Éric Légaré staggering more and more over that fateful afternoon. When boarding his vehicle, he had taken more than 3 minutes to leave his parking space, visibly struggling to perform the maneuver and unable to activate the reverse gear.
After the impact that occurred at a red light located on the Dufferin-Montmorency highway, northeast of Quebec, Éric Légaré’s blood alcohol level was more than double the limit allowed by the law. The THC level also exceeded twice the tolerated proportion.
Éric Légaré, 44, pleaded guilty to the charges of impaired driving and dangerous driving causing death brought against him. He said that the pandemic and the successive confinements had undermined his morale and that he had found refuge in a growing consumption of cannabis.
The man had collected eight speeding offenses since a first conviction for drunk driving in 2017.
The crown demanded the imposition of a sentence of 18 to 20 years in prison for the repeat offender. The defense, for its part, argued for a 10-year sentence, emphasizing the remorse of the condemned, his desire to take charge of himself and the support that his family and loved ones said they were ready to give him.
The judge of the Court of Quebec Jean-Louis Lemay decided for 16 years of penitentiary, alleging that the seriousness of the crime imposed an exemplary sentence.
Éric Légaré is also banned from driving for 25 years.