Don Singleton wrote a letter of resignation to Justice Minister Tom Marshall on Sunday afternoon. (CBC)

A newly appointed judge resigned Sunday from Newfoundland and Labrador's bench while claiming he had forgotten to note a drunk-driving conviction in his application.

Don Singleton, who was appointed as a provincial court judge in Grand Falls-Windsor before Christmas, declined an interview with CBC News, but in a statement described Sunday as "the worst day of my life."

Justice Minister Tom Marshall learned of Singleton's drunk-driving conviction after another judge informed him he was looking into it. That investigation came after CBC News reported last week that Singleton had pleaded guilty in 2005 to two charges involving the illegal sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco at Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay in Labrador.

Singleton denied trying to cover up part of his past, including a 1990 conviction for drunk driving.

"I did not wilfully hold that information back. I have always been a 'warts and all' kind of guy. What you see is what you get," Singleton said in a statement.

"But that was a whole other lifetime ago before I met my wife and I had genuinely forgotten about it."

Court records obtained Monday by CBC News show that Singleton was actually charged three times between 1986 and 1989 with impaired driving. In the first two cases, the charges were either dismissed or withdrawn.

Singleton was convicted on the third charge in April 1990, and was fined $750 and lost his driver's licence for six months.

Marshall said a background check on Singleton was not done, as the judicial review committee relies on the honesty of applicants to disclose any past troubles with the law.

Marshall had defended Singleton's guilty pleas in the CFB Goose Bay case, as Singleton was granted an absolute discharge, meaning that the incident did not lead to a criminal record.

However, Marshall said, Judge Reg Reid, the chief judge on the provincial court and the chair of the judicial review committee, on Friday informed the minister that he was investigating a report of Singleton having a past conviction.

While that inquiry was underway, Marshall said, he asked his deputy minister to contact Singleton, who then recalled the prior drunk-driving conviction.

Background checks to be implemented

Marshall also said he asked Reid to change the judicial committee's policy on background checks.

Tom Marshall said he asked for court and police checks to be done on all sitting judges, and a change in judicial vetting policies. (CBC)

"I've asked him to review their policies and procedures and to implement a mandatory police search and provincial court search for every applicant," Marshall said.

"I have had … a criminal record search done for every judge, and I'm pleased to say that there is no judge of the provincial court of this province who has a criminal record."

In his statement to the CBC, Singleton, who turned 48 on Sunday, noted how he had been raised by a single mother on welfare and worked in a series of "blue collar (or no collar) jobs" before entering law school as a mature student in 1993. He moved to Happy Valley-Goose Bay in 1997 to start a law practice.

"I did genuinely forget about the impaired conviction [but] it nevertheless amounts to non-disclosure [and] I could not seek to have my appointment maintained for fear that it would impact the perception of the administration of justice," Singleton wrote.

"The public's view of the criminal justice system is already low (for reasons that have nothing to do with me)."

Singleton said he is worried about the impact that the controversy over his appointment and resignation will have on his family, adding, "They did not sign up for this."

"As for me, I have seen dark days before. We all have and we all will," Singleton said.

Appointment questioned

"My focus now is be an example to my boys as to how one deals with dark days so that when they encounter their own trials and tribulations, these days will hopefully act as the map for how to get through it."

Meanwhile, court services director Pamela Ryder Lahey told the Canadian Press on Monday that an earlier search for Singleton's criminal record did not reveal the April 1990 conviction for impaired driving because errors — involving the wrong date of birth and address — had been entered in a database.

In a statement on Monday, Liberal justice critic Kelvin Parsons said people applying for court appointments should undergo a more rigorous vetting process.

"A more stringent process of investigation and followup is required to ensure a similar situation doesn't happen in the future…. You need a letter of good conduct and background checks to be considered for most jobs in the province," he said.

"I think lessons have been learned and I can only hope that immediate improvements will be made to this system," said Parsons, a former justice minister.

The Liberal Opposition had also questioned why Singleton, who has just over a decade of experience, was appointed to the bench over other applicants.

Before Singleton's drunk-driving disclosure, Parsons, a lawyer, said Singleton's appointment was not greeted warmly in the legal community because of his involvement in the duty-free case.

Singleton was not the only member of his family to receive a government appointment recently.

In December, his wife, Debbie Singleton, a vice-president for the governing Progressive Conservative party, was among a set of new trustees appointed to Memorial University's board of regents.

The provincial government removed four board members before their terms had expired, and appointed new ones to the board, with which the government has clashed over university independence and governance.