Jack Tobin has been granted day parole, just six months after being handed a three-year prison sentence for killing his friend in a Christmas Eve drunk-driving crash.

His lawyer Norman Boxall, who didn’t appear at Friday’s Parole Board of Canada hearing in Kingston, told The Sun the granting of parole was done “in accordance with the normal procedures and regulations.”

When a space becomes available, Tobin will serve his sentence under strict supervision in a halfway house.

Tobin was sentenced Aug. 31 in Ottawa court after pleading guilty to impaired driving causing death.

Alex Zolpis was trapped under a rented pickup truck as Tobin spun donuts atop an icy Byward Market parking garage early the morning of Dec. 24, 2010 — something Judge Lise Maisonneuve called “a gravely irresponsible act”.

Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

According to the Parole Board of Canada, most offenders are eligible for full parole after serving one-third of their sentence. Day parole — in which offenders are released but must return nightly to institutions or halfway houses — is meant to ease offenders into full parole, board info says.

Tobin, the son of former Newfoundland premier Brian Tobin, became eligible for day parole after serving six months of his sentence. He reached that mark on March 1.

Zolpis, 24, was survived by longtime girlfriend fiancee Emma Roberts, his parents, Dr. Edward Zolpis, an Ottawa psychiatrist, mom Susan Morgan and sister Meaghan.

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Canada president Tom Wainwright said the news didn’t shock him, or come as any surprise.

“The case is likely to get a lot of attention because the family is well-known,” he said. “But this sort of thing happens every day.”

He called the decision to grant Tobin parole “unfortunate” and said rejecting the application would have been a better deterrent for others considering driving drunk.

“The public may not be too accepting or approving of it,” he said. “The penalty should reflect the seriousness of the crime.”

MADD Canada says drunk drivers kill between 1,350 to 1,600 people each year in Canada, with some 68,500 injured.

Roberts, who carried a framed photo of Zolpis to court appearances, thought the initial sentence wasn’t long enough.

“I’m left without my partner, his parents are left without their only son, and Meaghan is left without her brother,” she said at the sentencing.

“I’ll never be satisfied.”

The Zolpis family and Roberts could not be reached for comment.

Twitter: @DougHempstead