Chronic drunk driver gets hefty sentence
By Barb Pacholik
Regina Leader-Post
May 30, 2008

REGINA -- A chronic drunk driver who has been travelling through Saskatchewan's justice system for several years has received a sentence nearing what some people get for manslaughter.

"You're probably the most dangerous person who has appeared in this courtroom for some time," Judge Dennis Fenwick told 44-year-old Vernon Adams.

Adams' criminal record of 93 previous convictions includes eight for disqualified driving, 12 for drunk driving, four for dangerous driving and three hit-and-runs. On Thursday, he added two more for disqualified driving and two for refusing to take a breathalyzer test when he entered guilty pleas.

Fenwick said the time had come to "segregate" Adams to protect society. The provincial court judge sentenced Adams to 2 1/2 years in prison. Credited with 14 months of pre-trial custody (generally counted as double by the courts), he will serve the equivalent of almost a four-year sentence.

Crown prosecutor Chris White said Adams was arrested on March 10, 2007 when RCMP got a call in the mid-afternoon from a motorist who saw a man hit the ditch and stagger from his car. When officers caught up to him, Adams, disqualified from driving, refused to provide a breath sample.

Two months later, he was again arrested when the intoxicated man pulled into a Regina autobody business and bumped into another car parked at the shop. According to police, Adams was so drunk on May 18, 2007, he had trouble dialing his cell phone and didn't make sense when he spoke. Again, he refused to take a breathalyzer test and was still disqualified from driving.

On Oct. 14, 2007, Adams was charged with theft after he was caught siphoning gasoline from a vehicle.

In persuading Fenwick to give Adams a federal prison term, White said the chronic offender appeared not to have benefitted from leniency in the past.

"This is a horrible criminal driving record," he said. "Apparently, he has not learned his lesson . . . He needs to be deterred."

Defence lawyer Bill MacIsaac said Adams has had a troubled life, attending residential schools where he was abused, and never got the education promised. By age 11, he was a ward of the state and raised in foster homes. At age 16, he was on his own.

"It's a tragic situation," he said.

MacIsaac said Adams has taken substance abuse treatment in the past, but not recently.
Fenwick acknowledged the man's "unfortunate past," but said that had to be considered against his crimes and significant record.

In addition to imposing the prison term, Fenwick prohibited Adams from driving for five years.

In recent years, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has been increasing the penalties for those who repeatedly drive drunk.