Archie Billard sentenced to 9 months, will serve 2

HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia man with a notorious criminal record as a teenager was handed a jail sentence Friday by a judge who told him he is at the "crossroads" of his adult life.

In a written decision, provincial court Judge Anne Derrick sentenced Archie Billard, 22, of Halifax to nine months in jail for driving while disqualified.

"You will have to assess who you should be associating with and turn away from people who are not law abiding," Derrick told Billard.

"If you fail to embark upon this new course now, the time will shortly come when you will be unable to turn the page on your past."

Billard pleaded guilty in April to driving while disqualified, possession of a knife and breaching a probation order from Newfoundland and Labrador.

Derrick concluded Billard should receive credit for remand time and serve a further two months in jail along with 18 months of conditional probation. Billard received a four-month concurrent sentence for breach of probation and one-month concurrent sentence for possession of the knife.

Derrick said the sentence keeps in mind the importance of rehabilitation for a young man who would be returning to the community and is "not incorrigible."

"As I have noted, rehabilitation is an important aspect of Mr. Billard's ongoing adjustment to living in the community free of conflict with the law," wrote Derrick. "It must be given a robust role in his sentencing."

Billard was released from prison in 2009 after serving 4 1/2 years for a crash that claimed the life of teacher's aide Theresa McEvoy of Halifax in 2004.

Sixteen at the time of the incident, Billard pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death. He was sentenced as an adult in January 2006 and received a 10-year driving prohibition.

A public inquiry was created after it was revealed he had been released from custody for a string of car thefts just two days before the fatal crash.

Retired judge Merlin Nunn made a series of recommendations including that the Youth Criminal Justice Act be changed to make it easier for courts to detain young people who display a pattern of offences.

When he was released in 2009, Billard continued to have problems with the law.

He was sentenced in April 2010 to four months for violating parole and driving while disqualified in Corner Brook, N.L., and was handed two-years' probation last November after pleading guilty to possession of stolen property.

Derrick noted his troubled past and signs that Billard runs the risk of becoming "institutionalized" as part of the reason for her decision.

"His experiences with the criminal justice system began when he was 14, but at 22 he is still a young man and his rehabilitation is not a lost cause," she said.