Emotional day in Sydney court as more witnesses testify in Colin Tweedie re-trial

It was another emotional day of testimony at Sydney Supreme Court on day two of the re-trial of Colin Tweedie in the hit-and-run death of 10-year-old Talia Forrest in Black Rock, N.S., on July 11, 2019.

Tweedie faces charges of dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing death, and leaving the scene of an accident. He was acquitted on all of those charges two years ago, though he pleaded guilty to an obstruction charge.

However, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal later overturned that decision and ordered a new trial.

The Crown called four witnesses on Thursday.

The first witness was RCMP Cst. Joe Wallace, who said he was one of the arresting officers the night Forrest was struck and killed while riding her bicycle along the Black Rock Road.

Cst. Wallace testified that when he took Tweedie out of his police car to use the washroom at one point during the night, he believed him to be intoxicated, saying that his balance was unsteady, and he smelled alcohol on his breath.

He also recalled seeing two beer bottles in the backseat of Tweedie’s vehicle, but couldn’t recall whether or not they were empty.

Cst. Wallace said Tweedie admitted to having “three or four beers” that evening.

However, he testified that when he took two breath samples back at the police detachment hours later, he blew under the legal limit both times.

Cst. Wallace also said that Tweedie made reference during the night that his girlfriend had been the one driving.

The second witness was the mother of the other girl who had gone bicycle-riding with Forrest that night.

She testified that her daughter had come home screaming, “Talia’s dead. She got hit by a car. They kept going, they’re not there anymore.”

The witness, being a licensed practical nurse, was in tears as she recalled later that night taking Forrest’s pulse and trying to perform CPR.

The third witness was a neighbour who said she was lying in bed when she heard a ‘very loud noise.’

She was later among the first to find the child’s body on a neighbour's lawn, and she burst into tears throughout her testimony.

The day’s final witness was RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Cliff, who showed the court dozens of photos she had taken of the damaged vehicle and the little girl's bicycle shortly after the crash.

Testimony will continue Friday on day three of the trial. Ten days have been set aside to hear the evidence.

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