‘Entirely responsible’

Impaired driving causing bodily harm nets lengthy sentence

A P.E.I. man long battling drug addiction was sentenced recently to 10 months in jail for impaired driving causing bodily harm.

Phillip Lorne Worth, 54, will be on probation for 24 months once he is released from jail.

P.E.I. Supreme Court Justice Jaqueline Matheson imposed driving and weapons prohibitions of three years and 10 years respectively in court.

Worth was also ordered to abstain from consuming drugs, except those prescribed, and to write a letter of apology to the victim.

Worth was found to be impaired by a drug when he swerved into oncoming traffic on Aug. 9, 2017, in Stratford, colliding with another vehicle which caused a 41-year-old male driver to receive a broken ankle.

The victim required surgery to repair the damage. He spent two days in hospital and missed a period of time off work. His vehicle was a write-off.

Worth’s own lawyer, calling the incident a “very serious offence’’, noted the victim was fortunate not to have been more seriously injured.

Matheson considered the fact Worth did not have a licence to drive a mitigating factor in the criminal offence. Worth was charged with four traffic offences in addition to being charged with the indictable offence of impaired driving causing bodily harm.

The court heard that Worth, a long-time painter who was praised by his employer for his work, faces a daily struggle with opioid addiction. He has been on methadone treatment for the past eight years.

Police found drugs and drug paraphernalia in Worth’s vehicle following the collision that occurred as Worth was travelling east off the Hillsborough Bridge and turning onto Bunbury Road, driving into oncoming traffic at a busy intersection.

Witnesses indicated Worth “was entirely responsible’’ for the collision, Crown attorney John Diamond told the court.

Worth pleaded guilty on Sept. 11, 2018, to impaired driving causing bodily harm. He stood in court Monday to apologize for causing the collision.