POT LINK TO CRASH

8 New Charges In Hwy. 7 Horror

SMITHS FALLS -- A Kanata teen charged in the car-crash deaths of five
high-school chums had allegedly smoked pot before the killer June collision
near Perth.

The 17-year-old appeared in Smiths Falls court yesterday facing 16 charges,
including eight laid late Wednesday after toxicology tests on his blood
revealed the presence of marijuana.

The youth, who can't be identified under the Young Offenders Act, is now
also accused of five counts of impaired driving by drugs causing death and
three of impaired driving by drugs causing bodily harm following the June 27
chain-reaction collision.

Last month, he was charged with five counts of criminal negligence causing
death and five counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

Stanley Thomson, 18, Alan Siew, 17, Dustin Record, 17, Homayoun Chaudry, 17,
and David Rider, 16, all died in the four-vehicle Hwy. 7 crash that also
injured two adults and nine other teens.

Investigation closed

"If there's evidence to lay a charge, we lay a charge," Perth OPP Const.
Paul Arnold said yesterday, adding that the police investigation is now closed.

The slender teen, wearing a blue-checkered shirt, khakis and black
basketball shoes, stared at the floor during his brief appearance yesterday
attended by three family members.

He quietly joked and squabbled with his kin before entering the courtroom.

His defence lawyer, Norman Boxall, left carrying a weighty cardboard box
laden with evidence collected by OPP investigators over past seven weeks.

"It's the saddest case I've ever been involved in," Boxall said outside the
courthouse. "It involves so many young people and serious injuries to
survivors both physical and psychological. It's a tremendous tragedy."

The teen will next appear in Perth court on Sept. 27, only three days after
an Earl of March Secondary School remembrance ceremony for the five pals is
scheduled to be held.