A St. John’s man has been sentenced to three months’ house arrest for forging inspection slips for commercial vehicles, one of which was later involved in a fatal crash.

Supreme Court Justice Trina Simms made it clear from the outset that 63-year-old Cecil Walsh was not being blamed, or sentenced, for the death of 56-year-old Duane Hutchings.

That was the initial allegation in the aftermath of the tragedy on Peacekeepers Way almost four years ago, on June 7th, 2022.

Walsh was the owner of a Paradise garage certified to inspect heavy vehicles until he was evicted, and his shop shut down a few months before.

Nonetheless, certificates were still issued from the garage, even though the inspections were apparently done at other, uncertified sites.

One of the vehicles involved was a transport truck, which was hauling a trailer on the fateful day in question, and collided head-on with a small car driven by the victim.

Mechanical issues were found to be a factor with the rig, leading to charges of criminal negligence causing death against the driver and Walsh — charges later dropped due to new, undisclosed information received by the Crown.

A third man, a mechanic who carried out inspections for Walsh while the garage was closed, received a suspended sentence and a year of probation.

Walsh at first faced more than 70 counts of fraud and forging documents, but ended up pleading guilty to 15 counts of forgery.

In accepting the joint submission on sentence, Justice Simms said she doubted Walsh appreciated the gravity of his illegal actions at the time.

“I imagine he may have thought he was just cutting corners,” she said, adding it should be a tragic reminder to all of the importance of adhering to such rules.

In addition to three months’ house arrest, Walsh is also subject to two years of probation.