A Cottam man has pleaded guilty mid-trial to dangerous driving after a crash in 2022.
Cameron Drouillard, 21, had been on trial all week, facing four offences for a serious accident on Oct. 16, 2022.
The charges included impaired driving, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, impaired driving causing bodily harm and failure to provide the necessities of life.
Drouillard admitted Thursday he was driving his pickup truck “objectively dangerously” on Finn Lane in Lakeshore.
He admitted to losing control and the vehicle rolled over.
The victim was a 19-year-old “acquaintance” of Drouillard’s who court learned was not wearing a seatbelt. She was ejected from the vehicle and suffered serious injuries to her back, neck and eye.
The victim and Drouillard had been at a party that night in Kingsville.
Court learned while Drouillard had consumed alcohol that night, a toxicologist couldn’t conclusively say if his blood alcohol level would have been illegal at the time of the accident.
The victim presented her own statement to the court Thursday, saying she continues to recover from her injuries which have drastically changed her life and ability to work.
She said the lack of accountability has made her recovery more difficult as the rumours around their small community were rampant, accusing her of being a drunk driver.
Court learned Thursday, Drouillard lied to first responders, police, and hospital staff about who was driving the pickup truck.
During her time in the hospital, the victim said it was traumatizing for healthcare workers and police to believe she was a drunk driver when she knew she wasn’t behind the wheel.
“Having blame placed on me for something that did not happen multiplied the harm I was already enduring,” the woman tearfully told the court.
“Accountability would have made this experience very different.”
The woman suffered serious injuries to her back, neck, and eye and she continues to cope with how her life has changed profoundly.
The victim also said it was difficult facing the small-town gossip because both their families live in rural Essex County.
“The genesis of this is right after the accident and he’s (Drouillard) thinking about covering his own... you know what,” Justice Brian Dube said Thursday.
While noting a guilty plea at any point in the court process is a mitigating factor, Justice Dube said it was aggravating that Drouillard “made some poor choices” with “three years of lying”.
When given a chance to speak to the court and the victim’s family, Drouillard declined the chance.
“I think some people here would like to hear from you, Mr. Drouillard, but you don’t have to say anything,” the judge pressed Drouillard.
He will have one more opportunity to speak before a final sentencing Friday at 10 a.m.
Defence lawyer Dan Scott and Assistant Crown Attorney Jonathan Lall have asked Justice Dube for a conditional sentence of eight months.
They are asking the first two months be on total house arrest with the following six months on a strict curfew.
Lall told the judge a sentence served in the community of his peers would be an appropriate punishment for Drouillard, as a result of the gossip the victim has suffered in the last three years.