A three-year sentence has been handed down after an ATV rollover accident resulted in the tragic death of an eight-year-old child.
During a court appearance at the Quinte Consolidated Courthouse on Thursday, 45-year-old Denise Toner of Centre Hastings pled guilty to operating a conveyance while having 80 mgs of alcohol in 100 mls of blood and causing the death of Jackson McWhirter.
In the agreed upon statement of facts read during the hearing, it was said that emergency services responded to a call for a single vehicle accident on October 22, 2022. Emergency services arrived at 5:48 p.m., to find CPR in progress on the eight-year-old victim.
A Can-am side-by-side ATV was found in the back of the property with evidence of a rollover, including deep tire tracks indicating a sharp U-turn. It was found that during the rollover the child was ejected from the machine, and the machine rolled on top of him.
Toner was driving at the time of the rollover, and she and her passenger were not wearing seat belts or helmets.
The victim suffered injuries including skull fractures, leg fractures, and spine fractures. He was later pronounced dead at Belleville General Hospital.
After the accident, it was revealed that Toner had been drinking previously, and submitted to an approved screening device test. The test came back with a blood alcohol level of 153.
The crown attorney read a victim impact statement by the mother of the victim, Rose McWhirter, in which she said that Toner was a close friend and that their families were very close before the incident. In the statement she said that Toner had been like a second mother to her son. She asked that the judge show kindness to Toner in sentencing, knowing that she suffers the punishment of her actions every day.
Addressing the court, Toner expressed remorse for her actions, and said that she accepted responsibility for her actions.
Toner was sentenced to three years in prison, along with an eight-year prohibition on driving. She was held in custody after the hearing.
