DRIVER IN CRASH THAT KILLED TEENS HAD MARIJUANA IN SYSTEM: POLICE

Eight More Charges Laid Against Youth After June 27 Tragedy

A Kanata youth charged in a June 27 crash that killed five of his classmates
had smoked significant amounts of marijuana before the accident, police
forensic experts said yesterday.

The youth, 17, has been charged with five counts of impaired driving by drug
causing death and three counts of causing bodily harm.

The teen, whose identity is shielded by the Young Offenders Act, had already
been charged with five counts of criminal negligence causing death and three
counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

In all, the teen now faces 16 charges in connection with the fiery,
chain-reaction crash that killed five youths he had known since grade school.

Yesterday, at the boy's home, his parents were struggling with the news of
the additional charges. "It's sad," said the boy's father. "We're taking it
one day at a time and we're trying to cope."

After the crash, emotions ran high in Kanata. Some said being accused of
causing the deaths of five friends was punishment enough. Others said they
should throw the book at him.

The families of some of the dead schoolboys expressed sympathy for the
accused boy and said prosecuting him would gain nothing. The debate prompted
Javed Chaudry, the father of one of the boys who died, to write a letter to
the Citizen.

In the letter, published on Aug. 5, Mr. Chaudry said he was shocked that
some readers did not support legal action against the boy.

He said such criminal charges confirm the rule of law and order, and serve
as a reminder that everyone is accountable for his or her actions.

"As far as remorse is concerned, the young driver in question was seen
enjoying himself with some friends at a local McDonald's restaurant just a
couple of days after I had buried my dear son," Mr. Chaudry wrote.

He continued: "My son, an outgoing and smart kid, will never come back home.
I will never again be able to hug him and kiss him. The other four parents
who lost their sons must be missing them the same way.

"I must emphasize that the law must be allowed to take its course. It must
also be established whether or not the young driver was under the influence
of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident," Mr. Chaudry wrote.

The investigating officers put hard facts before emotions.

"One could quite easily feel that we're being unfair by laying serious
charges," said Const. Paul Arnold of Perth OPP. "But if the evidence is
there to support the charges, we are bound to lay them no matter the
circumstances."

On the night of the crash, the boys, aged 16 to 18, drove to the Perth area
in four cars. They were heading to an end-of-school party, but either never
found it or decided to turn back because it was too late. They stopped for
hamburgers and headed for home, driving in a convoy along Highway 7 just
east of Perth, about 85 kilometres southwest of Ottawa.

The stretch of highway was straight and clear. Around 1 a.m., police say,
the accused, who was driving the last car in the convoy, attempted to pass
the three cars ahead of him.

Some of his friends said he was being reckless and feared he'd be killed the
second he pulled out on the oncoming lane. He managed to pass two cars
before colliding head-on with a westbound pickup truck pulling a stock car
on a trailer.

The passing vehicle hit the truck, which then hit another car, causing
deadly debris to spray across the road. The leading car in the convoy was
not hit, and its occupants were not injured.

The driver of the passing car, the accused, suffered minor injuries. His
passengers, Stan Thomson, 18, and Alan Siew, 17, died.

Homayoun Chaudry, the driver of the second car, was killed instantly by a
flying piece of the truck's steering column. Slowing the car to avoid the
crash, he died trying to save his friends.

The third car burst into flames after hitting the truck. The driver, Dustin
Record, 17, was killed, as was his passenger, longtime friend David Rider, 16.

The driver of the pickup truck, Tim Cole, 40, and his passenger, Max Beyore,
37, of Bowmanville, suffered serious injuries and have since been released
from hospital.

Yesterday's additional charges follow toxicology tests conducted at the
Centre for Forensic Sciences in Toronto.

The accused was charged during a brief court appearance in Smiths Falls
yesterday morning. He is to appear in court again on Sept. 27 in Perth. He
has yet to enter a plea and, by all accounts, has expressed remorse.

He attended four of the funerals, has sent flowers to the mourning parents
and apologized. The only funeral he didn't attend was in honour of Homayoun
Chaudry, one of his close friends. The teen couldn't attend that ceremony
because he was still in hospital at the time.