Keen-eyed callers help get a pair of impaired drivers off Muskoka streets.
Appearing in court last month, Benjamin Hughes, 45, and Jeffrey Irwin, 53, both pled guilty to driving with over 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood in their system, stemming from two unrelated incidents.
Court heard that on Aug. 16, 2023 at roughly 8 pm the Huntsville OPP was called regarding a possible impaired driver. Witnesses said they had seen the man, later identified as Hughes, staggering after leaving a restaurant. He then got into a pickup truck and proceeded to drive away on Hwy #60.
Police eventually caught up with Hughes and he ultimately blew readings of 150 mg of alcohol.
The defense disagreed with some of the facts put forward by the Crown but agreed he had been driving with more than the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
He was sentenced to a $1,500 fine and a one-year driving ban.
In the second incident, Huntsville OPP received a call on June 22, 2023, at roughly 3:30 pm regarding a possible impaired driver on Hwy 11. The caller said the driver, Irwin, was unable to maintain a straight line and at one point nearly struck the caller. The caller then followed Irwin to a residence in Utterson and when police arrived Irwin was still in the driver’s seat.
He ultimately blew readings of 188 mg of alcohol – more than twice the legal limit.
He was sentenced to a $2,000 fine and a one-year driving ban.
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