Sébastien Ricard loses his driving licence

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Sébastien Ricard, alias Batlam of Loco Locass, had given a show at the FrancoFolies de Montréal a few hours before being arrested at the wheel of his vehicle on a cycle track.

Claudia Berthiaume

Tuesday, 11 July 2017 20:13

UPDATE
Tuesday, 11 July 2017 20:13

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Guilty of driving his vehicle on a cycle track in montreal while impaired by alcohol, one of the singers of the group Loco Locass will have to go without his driver’s license for the next year.

The arrest of Sébastien Ricard, alias Batlam, dates back to a little more than three years, in the borough of Plateau-Mont-Royal.

The member of Loco Locass has not, however, been convicted in the last month, after a trial to the municipal Court of Montreal.

Convinced that the artist had driven while impaired by alcohol, the judge Gilles R. Pelletier confiscated his driving licence on-the-field. Ricard has recorded a rate of 133 mg and 120 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, while the limit for lead is set at 80 mg.

The singer of 45 years will also have to pay a ticket for having “committed an action that could jeopardize the safety of the people,” ruled the magistrate. Sébastien Ricard was arrested on the night of 20 to 21 June 2014, after driving on a cycle track.

That evening, he made a tour of bars with his friends after giving a performance at the FrancoFolies de Montréal. He drank beer and martinis.

Shortly before the bars closed, Sébastien Ricard and his friends have decided to go for a last drink in a bar, where he knows the owner.

It is at this time that it would be spent in front of a autopatrouille who was waiting at a red light to navigate the narrow bike path to the corner of Rachel street. There was significant work on this main road and the signage was ambiguous, according to the judge.

The police then put to the pursuit of the car, trying to avoid the pedestrians at each intersection. Officers estimated the speed of the fault between 50 and 70 km/h, so that the driver has rather claimed to have rolled up to 40-45 km/h.

He was arrested a little later, after being parked. Ricard has had trouble getting out of the vehicle and had to go three times to give his documents to the policeman. Her eyes were ” half-closed “.

However, he did no speech problem and has worked without a hitch to the requests of the agents.

Skillful driver

The one who is also an actor, testified that he never noticed that he was riding on a bike path, believing it was a dedicated lane for vehicles during the work. It will also not have to pay a second ticket that had been given to this effect.

Lawyer Ricard has attempted to avoid a conviction by pleading that his client was not drunk, since he managed to drive in a narrow corridor, without swerving out of his lane.

“[This] is not sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt […] He never realized that he was traveling on a bicycle path [and has not] seen pedestrians who were in her immediate surroundings “, ruled the judge.

The lawyer of Sebastien Ricard has not responded to the email from the Journal on Tuesday.