Le chauffard a subi une raclée en prison

Donna Casey et Jon Willing
Sun Media

Malgré l'injustice dont il a été victime, le père de l'adolescente happée mortellement à Gatineau par un récidiviste ivre refuse de sombrer dans la vengeance.

Daniel Primeau sait que beaucoup de gens s'attendent à ce qu'il cherche à se venger de la mort de sa fille. Il pourrait chercher à se faire justice lui-même, après qu'un récidiviste de l'alcool au volant lui eut pris son énergique Marie-Hélène mardi soir.

La jolie jeune fille venait de compléter sa première journée d'un programme d'art au collège. Elle revenaît chez elle à vélo du restaurant où elle travaillait à temps partiel lorsque le drame s'est produit sur le pont Lady Aberdeen à Gatineau.

Sirale de vengeance
Malgré tout, Daniel Primeau ne se laisse pas entraîner dans la spirale de la vengeance, un sentiment qui crée une «mauvaise énergie» autour de la mort tragique de la jeune fille. « Franchement, ce sentiment ne fait pas partie de nous, a dit le père de 48 ans. On ne doit pas entretenir de sentiment de vengeance, on ne doit pas ajouter de négatif à cette situation. »

Au sujet du membre de sa famille qui a affirmé en cour devant le suspect que ce dernier n'était qu'un «déchet de la société» , M. Primeau a affirmé qu'il fallait plutôt tendre la main et aider ceux qui sont dépendants de l'alcool ou de la drogue.

Le suspect battu en prison
Par ailleurs, l'homme accusé d'avoir heurté à mort la jeune fille, Rémi William Comeau, a été violemment battu en prison. Il pourrait tout de même comparaître vendredi pour son enquête pour remise en liberté.

Selon les informations disponibles, le récidiviste de l'alcool au volant souffre d'hémorragies au cerveau, en plus de multiples contusions et ecchymoses, à la suite de coups qu'il aurait reçus d'un ou plusieurs détenus de la prison de Hull, peu de temps après son admission mercredi soir.

Mardi soir, l'homme de 51 ans aurait été mis à la porte d'un bar de danseuses de Gatineau et tenait à peine debout, selon des témoignages. Il aurait été chassé de l'endroit parce qu'il n'était pas en mesure de payer sa dernière danse.

Selon l'enquête policière, Comeau affichait un taux d'alcool dans le sang trois fois plus élevé que la limite permise quand il a heurté mortellement Marie-Hélène Primeau.

31 août 2007

Donna Casey et Jon Willing

Daniel Primeau knows what others expect him to feel.

The grieving father should be full of fury.

He should be talking about vengeance and raging at the injustice of a convicted drunk driver allegedly plowing into the path of his beautiful, energetic daughter.

Marie-Helene Primeau had just finished her first day of college classes in her new art program. Cycling home Tuesday night from her part-time restaurant job in Gatineau, she was a girl on the threshold of a thousand possibilities.

But Daniel Primeau refuses to succumb to the darkness swirling around him, the bleakness of what he calls "the negative energy" surrounding the tragic death of his 17-year-old girl.

Emotionnal rollercoaster
"Frankly, it's just not in us. We've elected not to be mad, not to be vengeful, we don't have any negative angle to this," said the 48-year-old father of the emotional rollercoaster he and his family have been on since his daughter's death on Gatineau's Lady Aberdeen Bridge Tuesday night.

"To be blunt, the family doesn't really care about the circumstances, the person involved or the justice system," Daniel said, adding his family is focused on one thing alone -- building what he calls a "lasting memory" of the girl who radiated only positive energy.

Sensing the public outrage at the arrest of a repeat drunk driver in his daughter's hit-and-run death, including verbal attacks in the courtroom from a family member calling William Remi Comeau "a piece of society's garbage," Daniel said people should unclench their fists and extend their hand to those addicted to drugs or booze.

He said people who want to pay tribute to Marie-Helene should support the Jellinek Centre, a Gatineau drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.

"Obviously, we're talking about a drunk driver. I don't care if it's a habit or a first-timer. Some people out there need help and this centre helps people that want to help themselves," said Daniel.

"We believe this is the better way to draw out of the event the positive side of it, which was what Marie-Helene was all about," he added.

Vicious beating
Ironically, as the girl's father spoke yesterday of reaching out, the man accused of killing her was released from hospital after a vicious jailhouse beating.

Comeau, 51, returned to Hull jail after being treated in hospital for a black eye and facial injuries.

The construction worker was found unconscious on the ground by jail guards shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday, said Surete du Quebec Const. Mélanie Larouche.

Comeau was taken by ambulance to the Hull hospital and the SQ were notified of the assault early yesterday morning. Comeau regained consciousness and spoke to investigators.

Police continued to investigate last night.

He is scheduled to appear in Gatineau court today for a bail hearing into Tuesday's crash that saw an out-of-control pickup truck smash into a car on Greber Blvd., strike a second vehicle on the Lady Aberdeen Bridge before crashing into Marie-Helene Primeau riding her bike home in a dedicated bike lane.

Questions yesterday started to swirl around how Comeau, who police have said had at least three times the legal blood alcohol level, managed to leave a Greber Blvd. strip club undetected.

A manager at Club Taboo, where Comeau was believed to have been drinking, said people tried to take Comeau's keys from him before he left Tuesday night.

The manager, who refused to give her name, said Comeau was able to pull his keys away before getting into his truck.

"We're so sorry for (the victim's) family," the manager said.

Bouquets of flowers yesterday lined the section of the bridge where the truck struck Marie-Helene. Friends came for quiet reflection at the makeshift shrine before continuing across the bridge.

One man, who approached the scene on a bike, tossed a bunch of yellow flowers into the Gatineau River below, even though he didn't know Marie-Helene.

'She's a fellow cyclist'
"It doesn't matter," he said. "She's a fellow cyclist."

News of Marie-Helene's death has hit friends hard.

Below the shrine, marks were etched into the pavement and some debris from the truck still littered the sidewalk.

Vincent Seguin, 17, said he was at class at CEGEP de l'Outaouais on Wednesday when he heard his friend from primary school had died.

"I thought it was just a rumour," Vincent said as he stood on the bridge. "I didn't believe it. Everyone is in shock."

31 août 2007

Andrew Seymour

The man accused of killing a 17-year-old girl while driving impaired will remain in custody pending another court appearance next Friday.

Sporting a swollen right eye and still wearing the yellow T-shirt he had on at the time of his arrest, Remi William Comeau appeared briefly in a Gatineau court Friday afternoon before being remanded into custody.

Mr. Comeau, who held his handcuffed hands in front of him while lawyer Francois Boisvert spoke to the judge, said nothing during the proceedings.

Mr. Comeau is facing eight charges, including impaired driving and dangerous driving causing death, after 17-year-old Marie-Helene Primeau was struck and killed while riding her bicycle across the Lady Aberdeen bridge in Gatineau Tuesday night.

Police said the pick-up truck that struck Ms. Primeau had been involved in two other collisions prior to the fatal crash.

Mr. Comeau, who has two prior convictions for impaired driving, had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, according to the Crown prosecutor Sylvain Petitclerc.

Following Friday's hearing, Mr. Petitclerc said the Crown intends to oppose bail for Mr. Comeau due to the "gravity" of the offences he is accused of committing and the danger he poses to the public.

Mr. Comeau suffered a black eye and head injuries after being attacked at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Police said he was found lying on the ground in a wing of the jail, adding he was unconscious and taken to the hospital. His situation later improved.

He was released from hospital Thursday afternoon and taken back to the Gatineau jail.

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