Image

Oh Baby; Sarnia judge reduces fine after false labour

November 24, 2020

Alex Kurial
Local Journalism Initiative

He said his wife was having labor pains – but that wasn’t enough to stop a Sarnia man from being hit with a $1,600 fine for driving with a suspended license.
Jeffery Healey get some pity from Justice Deborah Austin who reduced the fine by $400.
Sarnia Court heard Nov. 17, Healey was stopped on Blackwell Rd. in August when an officer – who knew his license was suspended – spotted him behind the wheel of a Pontiac Torrent.
Healey explained that his fiancée, who was in the passenger seat, was experiencing labor pains. They had been in Thedford for his daughter’s birthday party and he took over driving on the way home. The woman was two weeks from delivery.
It turned out she was experiencing Braxton Hicks – false labor pains. The couple has since welcomed the baby, their seventh child.
“That’s a large number of dependents… certainly a context that is not the norm these days,” Austin said during sentencing. She said Healey’s large family, and the belief his wife was about to give birth, were reasons for the reduced fine.
“There was a rather emergent circumstance that prompted you to commit the offense, and your financial circumstances are certainly impacted by the number of dependents that you have to support,” says Austin. “You meet the threshold for some relief against the totality of the financial penalty.”
Healey’s license remains suspended.

Share This

Image
Front Page

Memorial to the fallen in Petrolia

November 1, 2024

Catherine Lesley, Petrolia Mayor Brad Loosley and Joe Card were among the volunteers at Hillsdale Cemetery in Petrolia Friday morning erecting over 400 crosses in memory of the veterans buried there. The Margaret Stokes IODE spearheads the project with members of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 26 helping out. This year, volunteers also planted 3,500 daffodil bulbs near the memorial

Read More

Image
Front Page

A pre-teen charged with assault after school fight in Forest

November 1, 2024

A 12 year-old is facing assault charges after an incident at a Forest school Lambton OPP were called to MacDonald Street in Forest, near Kinwood Central School, for a report of a disturbance. Police are releasing no details of what happened, saying only there were no serious injuries. A 12 year-old from Lambton County has been charged with four counts

Read More

Image
Front Page

North Middlesex hands Flyers a rare loss

November 1, 2024

Former Flyer Maddox Nazwaski made 30 saves to backstop the North Middlesex Stars to a 3-1 win in Petrolia Thursday. The St. Thomas native is now 4-1 on the season for the Parkhill-based Stars with a 2.46 goals against average and a .937 save percentage. Ethan Everaert made 24 stops for Petrolia. It was his first loss in more than

Read More

Image
Front Page

Wheelie bins roll into Petrolia in two weeks

October 31, 2024

Heather Wright/The Independent You’ll soon be getting your new garbage and recycling wheelie bins. Town of Petrolia Operations Director, Mike Thompson, said Monday Waste Management will begin using the automatic collection system, which requires the specialized wheelie carts, Dec. 4. “This will entail the delivery of 64 gallon carts to all town residential properties, theweek of Nov. 18-29,” said Thompson

Read More