Jack Tobin will be sentenced Aug. 31 in the drunk driving incident that killed his friend on Christmas Eve in Ottawa.
The son of former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Tobin read a statement in Ottawa court Friday, addressing the emotional family and girlfriend of Alex Zolpis who died after being pinned under the car Tobin was driving.
"I want to tell you how truly sorry and utterly ashamed I am for the unforgivable mistakes that I have made," he said. "Life will never be the same without Alex. He was a true friend."
The Zolpis and Tobins did not speak to each other during the proceedings, mostly staring straight ahead.
The one moment of emotion was when Zolpis' loved ones burst into tears when Tobin stood up to make his stamement, according to CTV Ottawa's John Hua.
Tobin pled guilty in May to drinking and driving in a parking garage in Ottawa's Byward Market the night of Dec. 24, spinning his pickup truck around on the icy lot and trapping Zolpis underneath.
"If there is any good to come from this very dark cloud, I hope that it will be this message to others; the consequences of drinking and driving are deadly, they are real, they are enduring - a nightmare from which you never wake up," Tobin said.
The Crown says they're seeking to make an example of Tobion with a five-year sentence, while his defence argues for 18 to 30 months in a reformatory of minimum security prison.
His defence said it's not about the punishment, but the pain felt over Alex Zolpis' death.
You can read Tobin's full statement here.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's John Hua
