Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 17/05) - A Yellowknife man with a half-dozen impaired driving convictions on his record was sentenced to 12 months in jail Thursday following his latest brush with police.

Peter Lawrence Mercredi pleaded guilty to impaired care and control of a motor vehicle during an appearance in Supreme Court - his seventh drunk-driving related conviction. The 39-year-old has also been convicted five times of driving without a license and twice of dangerous driving.

"He has an egregious criminal record," said Justice Ted Richard, who also barred Mercredi from driving for five years. "He must be removed from society. The court must do what it can to protect (the public)."

Police found the construction worker and father of two passed out behind the wheel of his car last November. The vehicle had just smashed into two other cars and was lodged in reverse when they arrived on the scene.

Crown attorney Loretta Colton told the court a heavily intoxicated Mercredi swore at officers and refused a breathalyser test. "Clearly he was a danger to himself and anyone else on the road," Colton said.

His lengthy criminal record - which includes a dozen convictions between 1984 and 1994, but none within the last decade - shows Mercredi cannot be trusted behind the wheel, Colton said.

"The paramount need is for protection of the public," said Colton, who recommended a 18-21 month jail term. "Nothing seems to stop him from driving while he is drinking."

Mercredi has battled an alcohol problem for decades, said his lawyer, Glen Boyd. Following a rash of driving convictions in 1994, he began attending Alcoholics Anonymous and was able to control his addiction for 10 years, Boyd said.

That changed last year when Mercredi started drinking again, just over a month before police found him passed out behind the wheel.

"I would like to apologize to the court," Mercredi said with his head down. "I took the wrong path, again."

The maximum sentence for impaired care and control is five years in prison.

The crime is commonly known as impaired or drunk driving, although the driver can be convicted even if the vehicle is stationary.