Quebec motorist gets 14-year prison sentence in death of family of three

SAGUENAY, Que. — A repeat drunk driver who was under the influence of alcohol when he killed a family of three was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison.

A jury convicted Yves Martin last December in the August 2015 deaths of Mathieu Perron, Vanessa Tremblay-Viger and their son Patrick, 4.

Tremblay-Viger was pregnant at the time of the head-on collision in Saguenay, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City.

In his written ruling, Quebec Superior Court Justice Francois Huot lamented how “the message of the court is not getting through” to drunk drivers such as Martin, 37.

“Like so many before them, these three victims were sacrificed on the altar of ineptitude by drunk drivers who continue to get behind the wheel,” he said.

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In sentencing him, Huot noted the accused was a repeat offender who was not dissuaded from drinking and driving by the fear of being arrested.

Martin, who was previously convicted in 2005 and 2010 for impaired driving, had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit. 

“We have a life sentence to live,” said Joanne Tremblay, the mother of the woman who died in the crash.

Crown attorney Michael Bourget agreed with the judge.

“He has a pointwhen he says the message is not getting through,” Bourget said.

With time already served, Martin has 11 years and nine months left in his sentence.

The charges against him included dangerous driving causing death.

The Canadian Press