The head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in this province says she’s sickened but sadly not surprised that charges have been dropped against a man accused of killing two people while impaired.
All eight charges against Nicholas Villeneuve were dismissed Monday after key evidence was thrown out because the judge said police violated his rights.
The 2019 head-on collision near Gander took the lives of John and Sandra Lush, seriously injured their daughter, and left her boyfriend with burns and paralyzed from the waist down.
Patricia Hynes-Coates, president of the local chapter of MADD, blames loopholes in the criminal justice system, as well as continued ignorance among the public.
She says people still approach her with the view that it’s their “God-given right” to drive as their parents or grandparents did. She says that’s simply wrong, adding it’s not until people have to bury one of their own that they can appreciate the consequences of such actions.
The families of the victims are pursuing a civil lawsuit as well as a possible appeal of the judge’s decision.
(Protesters gather outside the courts in Gander.)
The son of the couple killed in the crash says his family is devastated with the outcome.
Chris Lush says he understands the issue surrounding Charter Rights, but the decision has left his family reeling from their loss, and feeling as though justice was not served. He says people also have the right to drive safely on the highway.
Lush says he doesn’t place any blame on any of the players in the investigation.
Lush, who sat through all the hearings, says police cannot be expected to be robots when coming upon the kind of scene they did on that morning. He says some leeway has to be given to human error.
