Time served for three-time drunk driver
Barry Joseph Lindsay, 41, of Burtts Corner, smashed into other vehicles on two of his three impaired rides around region last year, leading police on dangerous chase one time
A Burtts Corner man was sentenced Friday to seven months in jail for three drunken escapades at the wheel last year, but he’d already served the equivalent of that time on remand.
Barry Joseph Lindsay, 41, of Dorn Ridge Road, appeared in Fredericton provincial court in custody Friday for a sentencing hearing.
He’d previously pleaded guilty to three counts of having a blood-alcohol level in excess of the legal limit within two hours of driving, as well as numerous related charges, including two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, and individual counts of dangerous driving, flight from police, breach of a release order not to drive and driving while suspended.
Crown prosecutor Geoffrey Hutchin said Lindsay ran afoul of police three times last year in incidents that showed an escalating pattern of impaired driving.
The first instance occurred at about 1:50 a.m. Feb. 13, he said, when Fredericton police on patrol spotted a vehicle with a burnt-out headlight.
Police pulled the vehicle over, court heard, and Lindsay was at the wheel, showing signs of impairment.
After he failed a roadside screening test, the prosecutor said, Lindsay was taken to the city police station, where a breathalyzer test revealed his blood-alcohol level to be 160 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, twice the legal limit.
Hutchin said the next set of offences occurred Aug. 26. Police received a complaint at about 3:50 p.m. that day about a hit-and-run.
Motorist Randy Moss reported he was crossing a one-lane bridge in the Keswick Ridge area when a red SUV came across the span while he was already on it, court heard, and the SUV scraped against Moss’ vehicle and kept going.
The prosecutor said Moss followed the SUV to Burtts Corner.
“Mr. Moss said the driver seemed very impaired,” Hutchin said.
When police arrived on scene, he said, they asked Lindsay if he’d been drinking, to which he answered, “Not much, just three beers.”
But his blood-alcohol level told a different story, court heard, as a breathlyzer test that day revealed it to be 220, almost three times the legal limit.
Lindsay was detained on the new charges, but he was released from custody on a court order, the conditions of which included a prohibition against driving.
But the defendant was at it again about a week later, court heard, in what was the most dangerous and egregious of his intoxicated excursions yet.
Risky retreat from cops
Hutchin said RCMP officers on patrol along Route 640 in Hanwell at 4:22 p.m. on Sept. 4, when they saw a Saturn SUV pulled quickly into a parking lot as they passed and then make a sudden zigzag motion.
The SUV parked, and a male - later determined to be Lindsay - emerged to check something on the vehicle, court heard.
The RCMP cruiser had turned around to approach the SUV, the prosecutor said, butLindsay hopped back in and left the scene. As the Mounties followed and activated their emergency equipment, he said, Lindsay sped up and was clearly trying to flee.
The pursuit quickly became dangerous, Hutchin said, as Lindsay was passing other cars on the right, narrowly missing other traffic and he almost went into the ditch while doing so.
Police broke off the pursuit out of safety concerns, Hutchin said, but it wasn’t long before the RCMP officers spotted Lindsay’s vehicle again, travelling in the opposite direction.
Around the same time, 911 calls were coming in, he said, advising that the same SUV almost ran over a resident in his driveway in Hanwell and the driver of a white Dodge Ram reported a Saturn SUV had struck his vehicle and took off.
Peace officers in the area were on alert, the prosecutor said, and a public safety officer soon spotted Lindsay on foot behind a church and detained him.
There was a strong smell of alcohol coming from his breath, court heard, and he exhibited slurred speech, among other signs of gross impairment.
“He was unsteady on his feet and was struggling to walk,” Hutchin said.
This time, his blood-alcohol level was found to be 210.
At the time, court heard, Lindsay’s driver’s licence was on an administrative suspension due to the earlier incidents and he was subject to a court order prohibiting him from driving.
Hutchin and defence lawyer Michael Mallory offered a joint recommendation on sentence: seven months in jail in total for all of the offences, as well as a three-year driving prohibition and a $500 fine for violating the Motor Vehicle Act for driving while suspended.
Court heard Lindsay - who’s remained in custody since the Sept. 4 incident - has served 140 days on remand, and once the customary 1½-to-one credit formula was applied, that means he’s served the equivalent of that seven months already.
Aggravating factors in the case, Hutchin said, included Lindsay’s 2019 conviction for impaired driving as well as the escalating nature of the dangerous conduct in which he engaged over several months last year.
“The behaviour’s getting worse,” he said.
Mallory said Lindsay’s prior record is limited, and his criminal behaviour was driven by a series of personal blows.
Lindsay’s mother died in 2022, which hit his client quite hard, the defence lawyer said, amd Lindsay lost his job as a web designer.
“This really exacerbated his alcohol abuse,” Mallory said. “He began to drink quite heavily.”
The offender has also been taking medication for depression and anxiety, he said.
Lindsay’s time in custody has opened his eyes, court heard.
“He’s had a lot of time for self-reflection,” Mallory said, noting Lindsay now acknowledges he’s an alcoholic and has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in jail.
“He’s dedicated to maintaining his sobriety.”
Judge Mélanie Poirier LeBlanc accepted the joint recommendation, imposing the seven-month sentence.
She also barred Lindsay from driving for three years, fined him $500 and ordered him to pay $1,000 in restitution to the driver of the Dodge Ram to compensate him for his insurance deductible.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
With being on anxiety and depression meds... he would have been WELL aware that he should not have been drinking any alcohol. With his escalating behavior, the sentence and prohibitions should have been higher.