O.P.P. OFFICER GOT LUCKY IN COURT

This is one of those cases where the public should have been kept much better informed by the media. The O.P.P. officer (Roger Woods) was off-duty when he slammed into the back of a horse and buggy just outside Mount Forest a year and a half ago. The horse died and the driver Onias Frey was severely injured. I read one article about this incident and my recollection is that it took an unusually long time before any charges were laid upon the O.P.P. sergeant. He had been speeding at the time and eventually he was charged with careless driving to which he pled guilty to yesterday in a Guelph court. Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys the story and the title is "OPP officer sentenced over off-duty crash with buggy".

I don't have enough information to actually form an opinion as to whether the $500 fine, 18 months probation and 24 hours of community service are appropriate. On the face of it, it appears as if the officer got off very easily and only through good luck was the buggy driver not killed along with his horse.