He killed a woman while driving despite an impairment of vision

Photo Chantal Poirier
After five and a half years of freedom, under conditions, Patrick Maloney took the road of the cells yesterday in Longueuil, quebec.

Claudia Berthiaume

Wednesday, 28 February 2018 19:47

UPDATE
Wednesday, 28 February 2018 19:57

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A motorist who entêtait to lead in spite of an important problem of vision has been sentenced to prison on Wednesday, having snapped up fatally, a pedestrian.

Patrick Maloney has learned the hard way that ” driving is a privilege and not a right “.

“I dare to hope that you will be driving more with a medical condition that endangers the safety of others,” insisted the judge Magali Lepage, in sentencing the accused to two years less a day in prison.

The resident of Longueuil was a real ” ticking time bomb at the wheel of his vehicle “, has shown the Crown prosecutor, to Me, Maryse Trudel.

Man of 49 years knew that he was suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative disease affecting the peripheral vision. He sees only what is in front of him, as if he was in a tunnel.

He had failed to disclose this information to the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) because he didn’t want to ” jump into the mouth of the wolf “, one reads in the summary of facts filed in the courthouse of Longueuil.

“It is a sad situation that occurred, which you are responsible, because you have been negligent in the face of a health problem that you had a lot of difficulty accepting,” said the judge Lepage Wednesday.

Lottery ticket

On June 6, 2012, Patrick Maloney was hit fatally Johanne St-Pierre, as she crossed the boulevard Vauquelin, on the corner of chemin Chambly, Saint-Hubert.

Photo FacebookJohanne St-Pierre
Victim

According to his sisters, Lise and Martine St-Pierre, the woman 54-year-old was close for a year and she was afraid to cross this busy intersection.

“She went to the convenience store to validate a lottery ticket winner. She will never have had the chance to do so, ” they noted in the Journal on Wednesday.

Maloney has fled the scene of the collision, but he was followed up at home by a witness who called the police. He initially claimed never to have seen the victim then to admit that he had left the scene in panic.

Hit-and-run

Last September, more than five years after the death of Mrs. St-Pierre, the accused pleaded guilty to counts of criminal negligence causing death and hit-and-run fatal.

Maloney no longer has a driving licence and he did not intend to get behind the wheel on his release from prison, said his lawyer, ms. Sophie Cléroux.

The family of Ms. St-Pierre hopes that incarceration will reflect the accused, but also all other drivers. “It is necessary that people are aware of their capabilities. If they are afraid to pass a test [SAAQ], it may be that there is a problem “, stressed Line and Martine St-Pierre.