A Cox’s Cove man who owed more than $17,000 in traffic fines got more than an additional amount added to that tally when he was sent to jail Thursday.
Kenneth Piercey, 68, had been charged with breaching probation, along with having four outstanding Highway Traffic Act offences when he arrived at provincial court in Corner Brook.
Crown attorney Lori St. Croix indicated that, given Piercey’s record and the fact he already owed so much in traffic fines, a term of imprisonment was called for. She said jail time cannot be given for the traffic tickets, but could be for the breach of probation.
St. Croix asked the maximum fines be handed to Piercey.
Judge Kymil Howe, acknowledging jail time wasn’t an option for the traffic offences, gave Piercey 15 days in jail for the probation breach.
She gave him slightly less than the maximum traffic fines, only because of the amount already outstanding and Piercey’s limited ability to pay any fines at all. She fined him $3,000 for driving without an insurance policy and $300 for driving with an expired registration.
Those fines also came with respective victim fine surcharges of $900 and $90, while the probation breach carried a surcharge of $100. That means Piercey now has another $4,390 added on to his more than $17,000 in outstanding fines.
Howe also ordered another 12 months of probation for Piercey, even though the Crown never asked for that. She said the probation was needed to hopefully give Piercey some guidelines for starting to live within the confines of the law and access to services that might help him figure out how he will pay the inordinate amount of fines he has amassed.
