A local man caught twice in less than a year driving while prohibited was sent to jail for 16 months when he appeared in Ontario Court.
Justice Gethin Edward noted that Robert Hill, 61, had a long gap in his criminal record and a steady job in the steel industry since 2016. He had been sentenced in 2002 to 18 months in jail for driving while disqualified.
But an April 2021 incident led to him pleading guilty this year to prohibited driving, driving while suspended and driving without insurance.
And he got caught last Feb. 8 “again operating a motor vehicle while prohibited, breaching his conditions and, on this occasion, he struck a parked car,” the judge said.
Hill pleaded guilty to driving while prohibited and breaching an undertaking.
Edward sentenced Hill for both incidents.
The judge said the repeated behavior – on top of 17 prior convictions for impaired or prohibited driving – ruled out any chance that Hill could get a conditional sentence of house arrest.
“This is clearly very aggravating because he breached a court order not to drive.”
The judge noted that Hill wrote a “heartfelt letter” to the court about his remorse and the shame he felt about his offences.
“Despite all this, he must go to jail to make an example to the community that people who drive while prohibited, and continue to do so again within a year of a previous charge, will go to jail for a substantial period of time.
In 2002, Hill, who was living in Burford, was on his 10th conviction for driving disqualified and had seven prior convictions for drinking and driving, too. When stopped by police then, Hill gave a false name and birth date. At that time, the judge called Hill “the worst kind of recidivism.”
In addition to the jail sentence, Edward Hill prohibited driving for three years, although the provincial government may impose a longer ban.
Edward also ordered that Hill pay $6,000 in fines, mainly for driving without insurance.
The judge declined to assign probation to Hill.
“Mr. Hill is 61 years of age. He knows what he has to do. He said so in his apology letter.”