Mark Shuttleworth is paying a pricey penalty for his refusal to provide police with a blood sample when he was involved in a July 30 driving incident in the east end of the city.
The financial tab totals $3,250, and also comes with a two-year driving prohibition.
The 32-year-old was behind the wheel of a vehicle that was spotted swerving all over the road at the intersection of Lake Street and Queen Street East at 3:40 p.m.
When officers caught up with him five minutes later, his running vehicle was on Wellington Street East, but was not moving.
One of the cops saw Shuttleworth exit the vehicle, yelling something about an accident, and declaring: "I hit him," Ontario Court Justice Romuald Kwolek heard Tuesday.
Several other officers who approached him found a pipe and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle, prosecutor Trent Wilson said.
When he was arrested, Shuttleworth had a small orange pipe on a lanyard, and refused to get into a cruiser, the assistant Crown attorney told the court.
A small baggie with a purple substance (fentanyl) also was found.
Shuttleworth pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a blood demand and possession of fentanyl.
The Crown and defence lawyer Ken Walker jointly called for a $2,000 fine for the refusal, a further $500 monetary penalty for the drug offence and a 24-month order banning him from driving.
Shuttleworth has a criminal record that includes a related offence in 2015, Wilson said, but because of the significant gap, the Crown is recommending the $2,000 fine for the recent charge.
As for possession of the fentanyl, Wilson said the small amount looks like it was for recreational use and calls for the $500 penalty.
Walker described their position as an "old-fashioned compromise."
Requesting a blood sample is a last resort, he said, adding there was a triable issue.
His client, a carpenter and the father of two, has been taking counselling, he said.
"I'd like to apologize for my actions," Shuttleworth told the judge, indicating he is now clean and sober.
"I'm glad to hear you are sober," Kwolek replied. "I know it's a struggle but you are doing positive things."
Fentanyl is a drug that has resulted in numerous deaths in this city, country and "frankly around the world," he told Shuttleworth.
The judge called his guilty pleas mitigating, but his actions when he got behind the wheel not "only placed your life in danger" but also affected others.
In addition to the fines, Kwolek imposed $750 in victim surcharges.
After hearing Shuttleworth isn't currently working, but expects to soon return to his job, Kwolek gave him two years to pay the monetary penalties.
"This has been a wake-up call for you," the judge told him.