A driver who mowed down three young adults in a violent face-off in August 2019 was sentenced to five years in prison. His carelessness left one of the victims in a vegetative state in a CHSLD until his parents decided to end his suffering three years later.
• Also read: “What he experienced was worse than death”: parents relieved after a decision against the driver who seriously injured their son
• Also read: Impaired faculties: “My son had his life stolen”
Pierre Hoffmann, 52, was prepared to head to the cells when he arrived at the Quebec courthouse on Tuesday morning. Dragging three bags with his personal effects, the repeat driver was only awaiting the decision of Judge Pierre L. Rousseau on the duration of his stay in the penitentiary.
The magistrate finally decided at five years, two years less than what the public prosecutor requested. In defense, Me Félix-Antoine T. Doyon suggested the imposition of a four-year sentence.
“The quantum proposed by the prosecution was more of the type of penalty at the lower end of the scale for impaired driving causing death,” analyzed Judge Rousseau, who also imposed a driving ban of 8 on Hoffmann. years. The man had one and a half times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood in the early morning of August 18, 2019 when he collided head-on with Jeffrey Langlois’ car.
Photo Agence QMI, Marc Vallières
Cause death, three years later
The line was indeed difficult to decide in this matter. The victim, Jeffrey Langlois, was left in a vegetative state after the collision. It was his loved ones who made the decision to let him go, three years later, by stopping his force-feeding.
“The actions of the accused pushed the responsibility onto the parents to stop the force-feeding of their son after three years of suffering,” recognized the judge, considering however that the appropriate sentence should be one at the top of the scale. for impaired driving causing injury.
Pierre Hoffmann, during his sentencing on October 1, 2024. The man, accompanied by his lawyer Me Félix-Antoine Turmel Doyon, was found guilty of impaired driving causing injury. His victim, Jeffrey Langlois, died three years after the accident, in a vegetative state in a CHSLD. Photo credit: Pierre-Paul Biron – Journal de Québec
Pierre-Paul Biron – Journal de Québec
The list of aggravating factors working against Hoffmann was, however, long. This was his second arrest for impaired driving and that same evening, his partner at the time had clearly asked him not to get behind the wheel.
The judge also identified his “post-criminal” conduct, deploring the fact that the accused had “no real control”, even breaking his release conditions by consuming alcohol.
“His degree of moral responsibility is high,” underlined Judge Rousseau.
Turn the page
For those close to Jeffrey Langlois, who gave moving testimony during sentencing observations, this sentence will finally allow them to turn the page.
Courtesy photo
Serene despite their pain, the young man’s parents and his sister confided that no punishment would have brought Jeffrey back to them anyway.
“This puts an end to this story which has lasted for years. He’s guilty and he’s going to do time, that was the main thing. We will be able to move on to something else,” confided Martin Langlois, Jeffrey’s father.
Relatives of Jeffrey Langlois, his father Martin Langlois, his sister Jessica and his mother Céline Pelletier, during the sentencing of driver Pierre Hoffmann, who provoked a face-to-face with the young man in August 2019, in Lévis . Photo credit: Pierre-Paul Biron – Journal de Québec
Pierre-Paul Biron – Journal de Québec
“From today, we will perhaps be able to really begin to mourn and heal,” adds Céline Pelletier, the young man’s mother, hoping that Jeffrey’s death sends a message. “If it can prevent other accidents like this, we won’t have done all this for nothing.”
The prosecutor in the case also believes that the sentence is a deterrent. “There is a clear message sent to the population. There is social disapproval,” underlined Me Anne-Frédérique Coulombe.
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