(Rod Constantine/RNC Facebook file)
Guilty pleas were entered this afternoon in another tragic case of impaired driving that killed one man and left two others seriously injured.
It was just after 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning, Dec. 10, 2023, when a vehicle slammed into an NL Housing unit at the corner of Empire Avenue and Graves Street in St. John’s.
One of the passengers, 32-year-old Mark Squires, was killed while his cousin Andrew Squires suffered serious injuries along with the driver, 38-year-old Rod Constantine.
(Mark Squires/Caul’s)
RNC investigators went to work, and three months later, in March of last year, Constantine was charged with five counts including impaired and dangerous driving causing death and bodily driving harm, plus several other driving offences.
He was initially released on strict conditions but was twice caught driving as the case made its way through the courts.
Constantine is free again on conditions and was not in the courtroom today, nor was he required to be, but grieving relatives were, fighting back tears as guilty pleas were entered by defence lawyer Ken Mahoney.
All parties will return to court on Friday to prepare and set a date for sentencing, with the earliest slot not available till January.
But Judge Paul Noble, acutely aware of the heartbreak in his courtroom, would have none of that, stating:
“I think it’s in everyone’s best interest if we could address this sooner rather than later.”