Charges laid after fatal collision, as police chief decries ‘misinformation’

LEITCHES CREEK, N.S. - Charges have been laid after a 17-year-old boy was struck and killed while walking home from a Cape Breton grad party, as a police chief denounced the “misinformation” circulating after the crash. Cape Breton Regional Police said the 21-year-old driver of the vehicle - who they say was “proven not impaired” at the time of the June 10 collision in Leitches Creek, N.S. - is facing a charge of attempting to obstruct justice in connection with the circumstances following the incident. Police say Hayden Kenneth Laffin, of Bras d’Or, N.S., appeared in Sydney provincial court Thursday. The Leitches Creek homeowners that hosted the grad party have been charged with allowing drunkenness on their property, a Liquor Control Act offence that carries a maximum fine of $2,000 and six months in jail. Kenneth Wilkie, 52, and Donna Wilkie, 49, are to appear in court Sept. 18 on those charges. The police force said it has concluded its investigation. In a news release Thursday, Chief Peter McIsaac said the complex investigation was further complicated by a “wealth of misinformation” - based on assumptions, opinions and rumours - that he said circulated in the community and was then reported in the media. McIsaac said it was hurtful to the people involved in the incident and their families, to the point that their personal safety and well-being were put at risk.