Crown, defense far apart on sentence for P.E.I. man who killed spouse while driving impaired

The lawyer for a Prince Edward Island man who killed his spouse in a 2025 impaired driving incident and the P.E.I. Crown Attorneys' Office are at odds over what they think a fair sentence should be.

Retired RCMP officer James Andrew pleaded guilty to a charge of impaired driving causing death in December. His common-law partner of about 25 years, Mary Shawna Carmody, 70, was pronounced dead at the scene of the New Years’ Day crash near Clinton.

At a sentencing hearing on Thursday in P.E.I. Supreme Court, Andrew’s lawyer told the court he wanted his client to serve his sentence in the community for about two years — noting the knowledge he killed his partner was the harshest punishment of all.

The Crown argued that Andrew should spend six years in prison. Both sides agreed a 20-year driving prohibition would be fair. 

”Whether he received a six-year or a [community sentence order] … when the name Jim Andrew arises, people are going to say ‘that’s the guy who killed his wife,'” said Andrew’s lawyer, Brendan Hubley.

“Living in the community with the reminder of that offence has a general deterring impact.”

Hubley told the court the 74-year-old’s health has been on the decline since the collision, when he drunkenly drove his SUV into a ditch and hit a culvert. 

He spent 84 days in hospital, has ongoing physical injuries and was using a cane in court. Hubley said Andrew’s cognitive abilities have also declined and neither his physical nor mental state are improving, but rather are “getting worse.” 

The lawyer suggested Andrew serving a sentence of two years less a day in the community, with conditions like a curfew and volunteering, would have a greater impact on “healing the community.”

Crown prosecutor John Diamond disagreed, citing a variety of cases where the guilty person spent years in custody, arguing it’s needed based on the significant impact the crash had on Shawna Carmody.

“There can be no more significant impact than the loss of life.… Her death resulted from his operation of a motor vehicle while impaired,” Diamond said.

”When there is a violent offence, there is an aggravating offence if it’s an intimate partner.”

The Criminal Code of Canada includes a sentencing provision that requires courts to treat evidence that an offender abused their intimate partner as an aggravating factor, which increases the severity of the sentence.

Diamond also argued Andrew was in a position of trust over his common-law spouse.