In an agreed statement of facts, Crown attorney John Ramsay told court Joshua Proulx drove his stepfather’s Chevy Silverado to Wild Wings in Kanata, where he consumed three doubles and two shots of tequila in less than 90 minutes.
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An Ottawa man apologized Friday to the family of the motorist he killed with his pick-up truck while driving 111 kilometres an hour heavily impaired by pot, three stiff drinks and two shots of tequila.
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Joshua Proulx, 25, told the family of Idris Robleh that he was in court to pay his debt for his “terrible mistake.”
“I wish I could take back the actions I done that night,” Proulx said moments after pleading guilty to impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death and impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.
“I am sorry to everyone involved,” he said. “I cannot take back the pain and suffering I’ve caused, but I’m here to take ownership of my actions, to serve time for the horrible actions I did that night.”
Proulx vowed never to repeat his mistakes and to share his story widely to deter other drunk drivers.
Robleh, 35, died at the scene of the head-on crash on Hawthorne Road on Sept. 25, 2020. Two passengers in Robleh’s car had life-threatening injuries, including his partner, Amal Dini, who was in the front passenger seat.
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In a victim impact statement, Dini said she planned to settle down with Robleh and build a future together. Dini said she had been left traumatized and heartbroken by his loss.
“I can’t bear the thought of my partner not being here,” said Dini, who spent three months in hospital. “He was my best friend, life partner and a good person who cared for his loved ones. Not seeing him here is something I can’t stomach.”
In an agreed statement of facts, Crown attorney John Ramsay told court Proulx drove his stepfather’s Chevy Silverado to Wild Wings in Kanata, where he consumed three doubles and two shots of tequila in less than 90 minutes. He left the bar at 9:25 p.m. with his friend, Carter Lalonde.
They went back to Lalonde’s home in Richmond before driving toward the NuDen, a strip club. Two women in a car behind Proulx saw his pick-up truck swerve onto the shoulder of the road several times, Ramsay said, and followed him for two kilometres before the truck turned north onto Hawthorne Road.
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The women saw Proulx’s truck nearly hit one vehicle, swerve onto the shoulder again, then cross into the oncoming lane. At 9:34 p.m., Proulx’s truck collided head-on with a southbound Hyundai Sante Fe driven by Robleh.
Proulx’s truck flipped onto its side and burst into flames. The truck’s data recorder, Ramsay said, showed Proulx was travelling 111 km/h — 34 kilometres over the posted limit — and did not brake before impact. Robleh’s car was travelling less than 20 km/h.
One of the women in the car behind Proulx pulled him out of his burning truck. Both Proulx and Lalonde were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Blood drawn from Proulx at 10:41 p.m. showed he had about one and a half times the legal limit of alcohol, along with 3.8 nanograms of THC, in his bloodstream.
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Amal Dini had fractures to her right ankle, left leg, ribs, collarbone and left arm. The backseat passenger, her brother Munir Dini, had a hip dislocation, a spinal fracture and abdominal bleeding.
“My disability reminds me every day of my partner’s death,” said Dini, who faces a fifth surgery to fuse her ankle.
Defence lawyer Sean May presented court with a joint recommendation for a five-year prison sentence in the case. May said Proulx, a landscaper and qualified mechanic, had no prior criminal record, pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and accepted full responsibility for his actions.
May called the incident a “single, isolated and out-of-character event” for a soft-spoken young man described by his friends and family as respectful, kind and hard-working.
Ontario Court Justice Robert Wadden accepted the joint submission and imposed a five year sentence. “Your selfish actions resulted in absolute horror,” he told Proulx. “All of the love and comfort he (Robleh) could have given to his family is forever lost to them.”
The judge also ordered that Proulx’s licence remain suspended for at least five years after the completion of his prison sentence.
Drunk driver handed five-year sentence for fatal, "selfish actions" - Ottawa Citizen
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