A repeat offender from Ontario admitted causing a fiery collision that killed an 18-year-old student and injured four other young people in Sainte-Hélène-de-Bagot last March while he was still drunk behind the wheel.
“We were five young people who were all aware that you shouldn’t drive under the influence of alcohol. “Still, the alcohol cost my friend his life,” a young girl injured in the collision complained in court. The identity of the minor is protected by the court.
The head-on collision was caused by Mathieu Veillette, who was driving his truck in the opposite direction on Highway 20 West, near kilometer 153 in Sainte-Hélène-de-Bagot. Pascal Girard/AGENCE QMI
In front of a room full of victims’ relatives, Mathieu Veillette looked down as he pleaded guilty at the Saint-Hyacinthe courthouse this morning.
On March 11, Mathis Filion was in a car with four friends when they were struck by a truck on Highway 20 in Montérégie. Behind the wheel of his GMC Sierra, Veillette was driving in the opposite direction on the highway. Then he returned from Zipper, a strip bar where he had been drinking with friends.
The white truck driven by Mathieu Veillette, 24 years old. Pascal Girard/AGENCE QMI
Three times the limit
The force of the impact left young Mathis, an 18-year-old CEGEP student, no chance. The four other passengers on board suffered significant, but not life-threatening, injuries.
This photo of Mathis Filion was taken just before his prom in June 2022. Provided by Catherine Corriveau
It’s not the first time the 24-year-old has driven drunk. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in Ontario, where he is from.
This time, when he blew into the breathalyzer after the violent collision, Veillette had a blood alcohol level of 250 mg/100 ml of blood, more than three times the legal limit, Crown prosecutor Me Jimmy said. Bracelet.
A six-year prison sentence was recommended to judge Marc-André Gauthier.
More details to follow…
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