Guilty pleas were entered this afternoon in another tragic case of impaired driving that killed one man and left two others seriously injured.
It was just after 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning, Dec. 10, 2023, when a vehicle slammed into an NL Housing unit at the corner of Empire Avenue and Graves Street in St. John’s.
Thirty-two-year-old Mark Squires, referred to as “Markie” throughout his obituary, was killed while his cousin Andrew Squires suffered serious injuries along with the driver, 38-year-old Rod Constantine.
(Mark Squires/Caul’s)
RNC investigators went to work, and three months later, in March of last year, Constantine was charged with five counts including impaired and dangerous driving causing death and bodily driving harm, plus several other driving offences.
He was initially released on strict conditions but was twice caught driving as the case made its way through the courts.
Constantine did not appear in court yesterday, nor was he required to be, but grieving relatives were, fighting back tears as guilty pleas were entered by defence lawyer Ken Mahoney.
All parties will return to court on Friday to set a sentencing date, after the one proposed yesterday — in January of next year — didn’t sit well with Provincial Court Judge Paul Noble, acutely aware of the heartbreak in his courtroom.
‘I think it’s in everyone’s best interest,” he said, “if we could address this sooner rather than later.”
