A 40-year-old Port Sydney man has pleaded guilty to impaired-driving-related charges following a crash on Highway 11.
Ryan Hatton appeared in a Bracebridge court, admitting to operating a vehicle with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood and failing to report property damage exceeding $2,000.
Court heard that on Nov. 24, 2025, at approximately 7:08 p.m., Huntsville OPP responded to a single-vehicle collision on Highway 11 near South Mary Lake Road. A pickup truck had left the roadway and broken through a guardrail.
The driver fled the scene on foot, heading eastbound past a Port Sydney gas station. Police later identified Hatton through CCTV footage. Evidence of alcohol and marijuana use was found inside the vehicle.
Officers received additional reports of a man walking along South Mary Lake Road and located Hatton on the roadway. He was identified as the driver and arrested. Breath tests later showed readings of 140 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
The court heard Hatton has two previous convictions for two impaired-related offences.
A joint sentencing submission from the Crown and defence proposed a $2,500 fine and an 18-month driving ban. However, the presiding Justice rejected the proposal.
“I’m having a tough time with this one,” the Justice said. “I regard this as being outside of what’s appropriate.”
The guilty plea was ultimately withdrawn, and sentencing has been rescheduled.
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I don’t understand what the justice means either. I think he should be banned from driving for a long time.
I don’t understand what the Justice meant by “I regard this as being outside of what’s appropriate.”. Did they mean that the sentence was too lenient?