news Former N.L. cabinet minister fined, loses licence for failing breathalyzer

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Former N.L. cabinet minister fined, loses licence for failing breathalyzer



2 hours, 9 minutes ago





By The Canadian Press


ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A former top Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet minister was fined and stripped of his driver's licence Tuesday for failing the breathalyzer test, a crime his lawyer says probably stems from the fallout of his involvement in the province's spending scandal.

Ed Byrne was charged last April after the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary noticed him turn through a red light in St. John's in his pickup truck.

Byrne did not immediately pull over for police but when he did, an officer noticed he was slurring his speech and smelled what was believed to be cologne or alcohol.

Two breathalyzer test samples revealed he had 230 milligrams of alcohol in his blood - nearly three times the legal limit - after drinking two tumblers of vodka within a three-hour span.

"The high readings here are certainly a cause for concern," said provincial court Judge Gregory Brown.

Last June, Byrne pleaded not guilty to impaired driving and failing the breathalyzer test. But the Crown dropped the impaired driving charge in exchange for a guilty plea to the latter charge.

Byrne was fined $920 on Tuesday and prohibited from driving for 18 months.

The sentence comes less than two weeks after Byrne was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to fraud over $5,000 and influence peddling for his role in the province's constituency allowance spending scandal.

"I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I can only imagine the stress that someone would be under with the publicity, the notoriety that resulted from the other charges," Bob Simmonds, Byrne's lawyer, said outside court.

"Hopefully I'm human enough to understand that people can make mistakes when they're under significant stress, and I think this was a mistake that resulted from the ramifications of the stress that he was under at the time."

Byrne, who was not in court Tuesday, is serving his time at Bishop's Falls Correctional Centre in central Newfoundland.

"Mr. Byrne wants to complete his sentence, complete his debt to society and get back to (being) a useful member of society," Simmonds said.

"I think he's well underway of doing that right now."