Prison for man with 11 DUI convictions

LONDON, Ontario, March 23 (UPI) -- A former Canadian truck driver was sentenced to six years in prison by an Ontario judge who said she was upset he has 11 impaired driving-related convictions.

Superior Court Justice Helen Rady found William Thornton, 57, guilty of the latest DUI charge Tuesday in London, Ontario, and ordered the harsh sentence because of his lengthy record, The London Free Press reported.

"Enough is enough," the judge said. "Something tells me Mr. Thornton doesn't get it."

The most recent incident was in June when Thornton was stopped by police while driving his wife to the hospital. Officers allowed him to continue a short distance to the emergency room and then tested his breath for alcohol twice. Ontario's legal limit is .08 and Thornton blew double that, 1.6 and 1.8, prosecutors said.

Thornton told the judge his wife was in pain and they couldn't afford an ambulance or a taxi, so he drove her out of "compassion," the newspaper said.

Among his convictions dating back more than 30 years, his record includes impaired driving, one of impaired driving causing bodily injury, 10 counts of driving with a suspended license and counts of refusing to provide a breath sample, the report said.

Rady also imposed a lifetime driving ban on Thornton as part of his sentence.