HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. — The Crown is seeking jail time for a Happy Valley-Goose Bay man who took cash for giving a passing mark on a driving exam.
According to the agreed statement of facts read in court, the RCMP received a tip in August 2018 that Scott Norman was taking advantage of new Canadians by offering them passing marks on driving exams for money.
On June 12, 2019, the RCMP sent an undercover officer to take a test with Norman, who had been working for Service NL for nine years. The officer went on the driving test with Norman, who asked him if he wanted to pass. Norman told him that for $250 he would give him a passing grade.
They haggled on the price, settling on $240. The officer asked if Norman had done it before, which he said he had. Norman told the officer he could help the officer’s friends, too.
“While en route back to the Service NL building, Norman instructed the operator not to tell anyone about this and provided him with a business card with his cell number on the back,” Crown prosecutor Brandon Gillespie told the court. “Norman reiterated he would help the operator’s friends in the same way he had helped the operator.”
The officer paid Norman, and they went back to the Service NL office in Happy Valley-Goose Bay without doing the driving exam. Norman was arrested shortly after by the RCMP.
Gillespie is asking for 90 to 150 days in jail for Norman, saying there were significant aggravating factors.
“He had the duty to ensure only those qualified obtain driver’s licences, and he shirked that duty, seemingly, for personal gain" — Crown prosecutor Brandon Gillespie
He said Norman, as the only driving examiner in Labrador, was in a position of significant authority and was a "gatekeeper" of public safety on the roads.
There was a substantial risk to the public, Gillespie said, considering Norman was allowing people without the proper skills to drive on the roads.
“He had the duty to ensure only those qualified obtain driver’s licences, and he shirked that duty, seemingly, for personal gain. Scott Norman, a driving examiner for this province, was putting his own interests above the safety of the public and on at least one occasion provided a driver’s licence to someone who did not pass the required testing and offered to do so again.”
He said the community at large is right to expect government officials to be beyond reproach and that they act with integrity.
Gillespie said deterrence and denunciation were paramount in the case, and that this could have resulted in harm to community members.
He said it was important to note that Norman had offered the cash-for-grades exchange with no prompting from the undercover officer and advertised a service by telling the officer he could help his friends.
“It’s not a case where a public official merely accepted a bribe. This is a situation where a public official advertised that he was willing to accept cash in exchange for the provision of a document that allows an individual to operate a vehicle on our roadways.”
Norman's lawyer, Robert Simmonds, asked for five months' house arrest, saying the charge has had a significant impact on Norman and his family, and imprisoning him would just do more damage.
“We have a man with no priors, a good family man contributing to society and bringing up his family, a man who is very unlikely to re-offend, a man who has taken full blame and responsibility for his mistakes." — defence lawyer Robert Simmonds
Simmonds said the pre-sentence report prepared on Norman stated he had a very low risk to re-offend and showed he was of "high moral fiber despite making a mistake."
Norman has no prior convictions, Simmonds said, and has fully accepted responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty to the charge.
“We have a man with no priors, a good family man contributing to society and bringing up his family, a man who is very unlikely to re-offend, a man who has taken full blame and responsibility for his mistakes,” Simmonds said.
He also pointed out Norman was only being charged with one offence and there was no proof he had taken any other bribes over his nine years in the job.
Giving Norman a conditional sentence order, Simmonds said, would allow Norman to continue to support his family and contribute to society.
Norman spoke before the court, saying he was sorry for what he had done and would never be before the court again.
Judge Rolf Pritchard reserved his decision on sentencing, and the case is scheduled to return to court Sept. 24.
