Saint John woman gets house arrest for fleeing scene of fatal collision with cyclist
CBC
A 25-year-old Saint John woman has been sentenced to a year of house arrest after pleading guilty to failing to remain at the scene of an accident that killed a 62-year-old cyclist.
Shantel Raeburn was handed a conditional sentence on Monday, albeit the longest possible for such sentences — two years less a day.
Philip MacMillan died after being struck by a car on May 28, 2021.
Only the first 12 months of Raeburn's sentence will be served on house arrest. For that period, she has to remain in her Broadview Avenue apartment except for work or education. On Saturdays between noon and 4 p.m., she's free to run personal errands.
She's also able to leave for approved counselling and for medical appointments for her and her six-year-old daughter.
Raeburn was charged with leaving the scene and with obstruction of justice and pleaded guilty to both charges last month in advance of a scheduled jury trial
In an agreed statement of facts, Raeburn admits immediately fleeing the scene of the accident, which happened at about 7:45 a.m. on Crown Street.
The statement of facts does not describe how MacMillan was struck that morning, and details about the collision itself were also not addressed in court Monday.
Court heard that after the accident, Raeburn parked the car, which was registered to her partner, at an address on Queen Street. The partner's uncle, who works at a recycling plant, was asked to dispose of the vehicle.
At about 2 a.m., roughly 18 hours after the collision, a member of the Saint John Police Force located the vehicle parked behind a residence with the licence plate removed.
Early in the afternoon on May 29, 2021, Raeburn turned herself into police and made a full, tearful confession.
Based on that confession and Raeburn's eventual guilty plea, Justice Darrell Stephenson of the Court of King's Bench said he believes she is "truly remorseful."
Stephenson also fined her $1,000, prohibited her from driving for three years and ordered her to provide a sample of her DNA for a national databank.
MacMillan's family members declined to speak to reporters, but his wife and his mother gave victim impact statements to the court.