A Charlottetown man who failed drug recognition tests twice in the same day was sentenced recently to 80 days in jail on four charges.
Tanner Wayne Atkinson, 20, appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to driving while impaired by drugs and having care and control of a vehicle while impaired by drugs.
He also previously pleaded guilty to two probation breaches.
The court heard the police arrested Atkinson after they were dispatched to a call about a possible impaired driver.
Atkinson sideswiped another vehicle and left the scene.
He later failed a drug recognition test and his vehicle was towed to the North River Motel.
About nine hours after the first incident, Atkinson was found in care and control of his vehicle.
The same officer who performed the first drug recognition test performed another one, which Atkinson failed.
Defence laywer Yolande Murphy told the court Atkinson had serious addiction issues after he started using drugs when he was 13.
By 18, he had an addiction that included intravenous drug use, Murphy said.
Orr gave Atkinson credit of six days for time spent in custody, and although he asked to serve the sentence intermittently, she said that wasn’t appropriate.
Atkinson will be on probation for two years and is banned from driving for that length of time.
He must also perform 100 hours of community service and pay $400 in victim surcharges.
