Repeat banned driver sentenced
Preston James Blaisdell gets prison time on six charges
A P.E.I. man with more than a dozen convictions for driving while disqualified was sentenced recently to two years in prison on six charges.
Preston James Blaisdell, 37, appeared before Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court in Charlottetown by video from jail where he was sentenced on two counts of theft and three counts of driving while prohibited.
Blaisdell was also sentenced for violating a no-contact order.
In sentencing Blaisdell, Orr said it would be an understatement to say his driving record is one of the worst she has ever seen.
“He’s consistent. I’ll give him that,” she said.
Blaisdell has been banned from driving since 2018, and his licence has been suspended since 2001.
In October 2019, P.E.I. Supreme Court Chief Justice Tracey Clements sentenced Blaisdell to 19 months in jail on his 10th and 11th convictions for driving while prohibited.
During Blaisdell’s most recent court appearance, Crown attorney John Diamond provided details of a series of offences Blaisdell committed over several months, including three counts of driving while prohibited.
The court heard one of those incidents involved the police responding to an accident in the Dingwell Mills area where a truck was found in a ditch under several trees.
Diamond said the truck, which was described as “demolished,” knocked over five large trees.
The police found Blaisdell in the truck without a seatbelt on, and he was taken to hospital for observation, although he didn’t have any serious injuries.
In another incident, the court heard Blaisdell drove the mother of his child to hospital to give birth.
The court also heard about thefts involving catalytic converters, including one incident at a home in St. Margarets where a couple found part of their vehicle had been removed.
A trail camera on the property caught Blaisdell with a saw and a catalytic convertor.
Blaisdell also went to a scrap dealer with 14 catalytic converters to sell, and Diamond said that after a discussion over the price, the dealer paid him but didn’t take the purchased items out of Blaisdell’s vehicle.
“He left with them after being paid for them,” Diamond said.
The court heard the catalytic converters were recovered a few days later.
Blaisdell has been in jail since May 20 and the court heard that while he was there, he was banned from having any contact with a woman he knew.
Diamond said that on June 1, a jail employee contacted the RCMP to report that Blaisdell had been calling the woman.
The court heard Blaisdell had been using phone numbers that were supposedly for family but turned out to be for the woman.
Diamond said there were 26 conversations recorded between the two.
Before hearing his sentence, Blaisdell addressed the court to apologize.
In sentencing Blaisdell, Orr said he had an “unenviable record” and noted that even after he was charged with the initial offences, he continued to commit more.
Orr accepted a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence, sentencing Blaisdell to two years in prison after credit for time served.
She also gave Blaisdell a further three-year driving prohibition to take effect after the two years of his sentence is over.