BY KEITH LACEY
A Sudbury man who has spent almost his entire adult life behind bars, in large part because of his refusal to stop drinking and driving, was sent back to the penitentiary Friday.
Darwyn Mintz, 42, pleaded guilty in February to driving while disqualified and leaving the scene of an accident following a ?fender bender? on a downtown street in the middle of the afternoon last March.
At the time, Mintz was disqualified for life from driving after having accumulated 12 previous convictions for drunk driving, three for dangerous driving and eight for driving while disqualified. Court heard Mintz was recently charged with another drunk driving allegation in Parry Sound. He has yet to go to trial on that charge. Court heard Mintz has accumulated more than three dozen criminal convictions and has been in trouble with the law almost repeatedly since age 16, dating back to 1978.
Justice William Fitzgerald said although no one was hurt during the minor accident last March, Mintz?s horrific record and the fact he left the scene of an accident while prohibited from driving calls out for a penitentiary term.
?It?s not a matter of numbers...it?s about systems...and the appropriate penalty is this case is the federal system and not the provincial system,? said the veteran judge.
The blunt facts are Mintz is endangering not only his own life, but the lives of innocent users of the road or any citizen who might be walking outside when he insists on getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, especially when under the influence of alcohol, said Fitzgerald.
?This type of conduct can not be repeated and if it does, the lives and safety of people in this community are being jeopardized,? he said.
Fitzgerald recommended to Mintz, who is articulate and well-spoken, he access counseling and treatment while in the penitentiary for his obvious
longstanding alcohol addiction.
Defence counsel Alex Toffoli had asked the court to impose a sentence of 12 to 16 months.
Mintz had, for the first time in 25 years, stayed out of trouble for almost three years before this latest incident, said Toffoli.
His record, especially for driving offences, is horrific, but the courts must sentence on the facts of each case and the circumstances in this matter are not so bad as to cry out for a penitentiary sentence, he said.
No one was hurt and the incident involved only a minor bump by the car being driven by Mintz, he said.
The fact is his client has spent 16 of the past 23 years behind bars, said Toffoli. ?We talk about life on the installment plan and he?s living proof of same,? he said. A jail sentence is required under all the circumstances, but the time has come for the courts to impose ?enforced treatment? and make
Mintz accept counseling while behind bars, said Toffoli.
Assistant Crown attorney Julie Lefebvre called Mintz?s record ?atrocious? and said society must be protected from a man who insists on driving while prohibited and under the influence, even after serving so much time in jail over the past two decades.
?When this accused gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, he puts the safety of members of the public in jeopardy,? she said.
A pre-sentence report clearly indicates Mintz, despite all his troubles with the law, tends to minimize his criminal behaviour and has failed to properly deal with his alcohol addiction, she said.
The Crown would not be unreasonable in asking for a jail sentence in excess of three years, she said.
Before sentence was imposed, Mintz told the court he has attempted to access counseling recently.
?I certainly need help, I?m aware of that,? he said.
He will access any treatment made available to him while serving his sentence, he said.
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