Retired P.E.I. RCMP officer pleads guilty to impaired driving charge in crash that killed partner

PEI·NewJames Barrett Andrew, 74, has pleaded guilty to impaired driving charges in a crash on New Year’s Day that killed his common-law partner. Mary Shawna Carmody, 70 was pronounced dead at the sceneDevon Goodsell · CBC News · Posted: Dec 09, 2025 5:00 PM EST | Last Updated: 30 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.P.E.I. man enters guilty plea in New Year’s Day crash that killed common-law partnerA former Island RCMP officer has pleaded guilty to a charge of impaired driving causing death. James Andrew’s partner died Jan. 1 after he crashed the car they were both in. CBC’s Laura Meader has more.A retired Prince Edward Island RCMP officer has pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death in a crash on New Year’s Day that killed his common-law partner.James Bennett Andrew, 74, entered the plea in P.E.I. Supreme Court in Charlottetown on Tuesday.Andrew was arrested at the scene of the single-vehicle crash in Clinton, about 8 km east of Kensington, on Jan. 1. The SUV he was driving was in a ditch and had hit a culvert.Firefighters were able to extract Andrew from the car, but the passenger — Mary Shawna Carmody, 70, Andrew’s common-law partner — was pronounced dead at the scene.The single-vehicle collision happened along Route 6 in Clinton on New Years’ Day. Andrew was taken to hospital with serious injuries, then charged more than three months later. (Jane Robertson/CBC)According to an agreed statement of facts read in court, officers at the scene observed that Andrew smelled of alcohol and couldn’t keep his eyes open. Police had to read Andrew his rights twice because he told officers he didn’t understand them the first time. At one point, when asked what he didn’t understand, Andrew told officers, “I’m drunk, relax.”He declined medical care at the scene but was later sent to hospital with serious injuries.Andrew had also been charged with having a blood-alcohol concentration at or above the legal limit of 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. That charge was stayed by the Crown on Tuesday.Andrew’s lawyer requested a pre-sentence report before the sentence is handed down. The case is scheduled to be back in court in February.ABOUT THE AUTHORDevon Goodsell is a senior producer for CBC in Prince Edward Island with a focus on the criminal justice system. She has worked as a CBC journalist in a variety of roles since 2007, including as a producer for CBCNews.ca in Toronto, and as a reporter and associate producer in Vancouver.With files from Laura Meader