3 passengers ejected and injured, driver pleads guilty

A Kings County man who crashed his car and fled the scene has pleaded guilty to three counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm.

All three of his passengers were ejected from the vehicle. One was airlifted to Halifax with life-threatening injuries.

Facts on the incident were read out in P.E.I. Supreme Court Tuesday.

Stephen Paul Collings, 41, of Peters Road was the driver of a two-door Honda Civic on Route 17 in Gasperaux on Aug. 18, 2019, with three passengers.

Kings District RCMP were called to the single-vehicle crash scene that morning, according to Crown prosecutor Gerald Quinn.

10 weeks in hospital

The crash ejected all three passengers  — two men and a woman  — through the car's windows.

The woman, who was riding in the back seat, was found partly under the rear of the car, according to Quinn. She broke her back in several places, suffered a collapsed lung and other organ damage. She was airlifted to Halifax with life-threatening injuries and spent 10 weeks in hospital in Halifax and in Charlottetown.

Court heard the woman continues to suffer from stress caused by her ordeal.

Driver fled scene

The two male passengers were also injured. One, riding in the back, suffered a cut face, concussion and four broken ribs. The man riding in the front passenger sent was ejected through the side window and suffered multiple abrasions and lacerations.

Collings left the scene and was located by Island EMS. He had a fractured vertebrae and a brain bleed.

According to the facts read out in court, blood samples taken from Collings at 8:50 a.m., about three hours after the RCMP were called, show alcohol readings of 86 to 90, which is over the legal limit. Analysis conducted by the RCMP National Forensic Lab in Ottawa calculated that Collings' alcohol reading at the time of the crash would have been 122 to 177. The legal limit is 80.

After Collings entered his guilty pleas, a charge of failing to remain at the scene of an accident was stayed. Court heard Collings has one previous drinking and driving conviction, 20 years ago.

Defence lawyer Brendan Hubley requested a pre-sentence report on Collings be prepared, to provide the judge with additional information before sentence is handed down.

Chief Justice Tracey Clements ordered Collings to return to court Jan. 13 for sentencing.

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