A Newfoundland man will spend the next four months in jail and another year on probation after pleading guilty to refusing a roadside screening test and taking off in his truck before crashing it in Canmore last summer.
James Stoyles pleaded guilty to criminal code charges for refusing to give a breath sample after being stopped by an RCMP officer on July 22, 2017, dangerous driving and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.
Crown prosecutor Britta Kristensen provided the facts of the case to Judge Les Grieve in Canmore Provincial Court at the beginning of January.
She said the officer who stopped Stoyles in the early morning hours that day observed his red Dodge truck turn onto Railway Avenue at a high rate of speed, squealing his tires as a result.
But when the officer spoke with Stoyles and returned to his vehicle for the roadside breathalyser, the accused turned his truck around and sped away suddenly.
“At this time of day there were pedestrians and traffic,” Kristensen said.
Stoyles’ vehicle was located heading eastbound on Highway 1A and was followed by two RCMP cruisers when it suddenly turned around and headed toward them. Kristensen said the members feared they would be rammed head on by the truck and took evasive action.
Stoyles, however, failed to navigate the roundabout on Bow Valley Trail in Canmore at Spring Creek Mountain Village and launched his vehicle through the air and into the ditch.
“Pedestrians had to move out of the way and saw Mr. Stoyles running from the scene,” said the Crown.
She said Stoyles’ girlfriend then removed the licence plate from the truck and even though RCMP brought in dogs to assist, they did not find him. But they did find his passport dropped next to the truck and, along with identification by the officer who originally stopped him, he was later located and arrested.
“The facts in relation to these charges are extremely egregious and put the public at risk and officers,” Kristensen said.
Defence counsel Benjamin Lotery told the judge the 25-year-old has only one charge on his record for dangerous driving in Newfoundland in 2011 and while these charges were initially set for trial, he pleaded guilty. At the time of the offence he was living in Fort McMurray.
“Mr. Stoyles is aware of the danger and consequences of his action that night,” Lotery said. “Clearly he lost his head. He recently relocated back to Newfoundland and has returned to deal with these matters and put them behind him.”
Grieve told Stoyles he has a good lawyer who negotiated a good plea deal for him, but said he considered a longer jail sentence to send a message to others and “to deter foolish behaviour” like his.
“We could easily be talking about you killing someone,” he said. “You were drinking and driving like an idiot.”
In addition to four months in jail, Stoyles would spend 12 months on probation afterwards with conditions to abstain from alcohol, not return to Canmore and seek counselling as directed. He was also given two concurrent 18-month driving prohibitions and a $200 victim fine surcharge.
Charges of obstruction, assaulting a police officer and failing to stop were withdrawn by the Crown after the guilty plea was accepted.
