CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who had a graduated licence when he flipped his vehicle while driving drunk was sentenced recently to seven days in jail.
Phillip Rex Doyle, 19, appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court in Charlottetown where he entered a guilty plea.
Crown attorney John Diamond told the court that on July 29, a police officer on patrol saw Doyle’s vehicle travelling at a high speed.
The vehicle later ended up flipped over in a ditch.
Doyle, who had a graduated licence which has a zero-tolerance condition, provided breathalyzer samples that were above the legal limit.
Defence lawyer Matthew Bradley said Doyle is a young man who accepted responsibility and learned his lesson the hard way.
Bradley said Doyle was in the process of applying to join the military but that has been put on hold.
Before sentencing Doyle, Orr said it is troubling to see the number of people who are 18 and on graduated licences who end up before the court.
Along with the jail time, Doyle must pay a $1,000 fine and a $300 victim surcharge.
He is banned from driving for 18 months, which is higher than the one year ban normally imposed on first-time offenders in drunk driving cases.
Orr said the longer ban is because Doyle was on a graduated licence and wasn’t old enough to legally drink alcohol even if he had a full licence.
