The evidence against a Barrie man charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle — after his high-performance Tesla flew over the railroad tracks on Little Avenue and crashed in 2018 — was too great.
James (Steven) Phipps, 48, was found guilty Friday in a Barrie courtroom. He was slapped with a two-year driving ban and sentenced to 30 days in jail after the guilty verdict was handed down.
Justice J.L. Waddilove heard final submissions from the defence and the Crown Friday in the case that received international attention due to a surveillance video BarrieToday obtained the night of the crash in the city's south end.
Waddilove concluded that Phipps needed a stern lesson for his actions that night, and gave more than the suspended sentence his lawyer was asking for.
“I should send a message to the public and to you, Mr. Phipps, that public safety is paramount,” Waddilove said in court.
Phipps, a 48-year-old Barrie man, was found guilty following the single-vehicle crash on Little Avenue, near Huronia Road, just before 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018.
At one point, Phipps was going 167 kilometres per hour in the 50 km/h zone, according to a Barrie police officer who testified on Thursday.
According to a crash data analysis conducted on the 2016 four-door Tesla, besides travelling more than three times the speed limit for that area of the city, Phipps was also not wearing his seat-belt.
Phipps’ lawyer, David Wilcox, argued that his client was remorseful and co-operative during his arrest and throughout the trial.
Waddilove agreed, but said, “We still had to go through with a trial and that comes with a guilty verdict.”
Phipps spoke to the court and apologized. He said he was sorry for “all the time I’ve wasted for everybody and if I could change what has been done, I certainly would.”
Phipps was placed in custody for processing after the sentencing and surrendered his driver’s licence to the court clerk.
He will serve the 30 days on weekends, signing in on no later than Fridays at 6 p.m., and to be released Mondays at 8 a.m.
Waddilove took into account Phipps' disabilities from a 2009 motorcycle collision as reason to allow his sentence to be served intermittently.
In court on Thursday, one witness said the Tesla was six feet in the air as it hit the incline at the railway crossing.
The vehicle travelled approximately 100 feet before crashing to the ground in the opposing lane and then coming to a rest as it struck a tree near the front entrance of Assikinack Public School.
Phipps and a passenger were taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries.
On the stand Thursday, Phipps said he suffered a head injury on July 16, 2009 when a motorcycle he was driving collided with another vehicle. That incident left him with a brain injury and permanent paralysis in his left arm. From the 2009 crash, he received a pension and a lump sum, which he used to buy a home in Barrie in 2014.
Estimating he paid $210,000 for the Tesla, Phipps said he had only owned it for approximately six months before the Little Avenue crash in 2018.
