Court frees Benschop on Berbice Bridge charges

May 12, 2009 News

West Berbice Magistrate, Tejnarine Ramroop, yesterday freed former treason accused Mark Benschop of two traffic charges, which had been laid against him.

Benschop was charged with stopping his vehicle at the Berbice River Bridge toll booth at D’Edward Village on January 10, last, in a manner likely to cause obstruction to other road users.

He was also charged with driving the said vehicle and failing to affix the name and address of the owner, its speed limit and unladen weight on its right side. He had pleaded not guilty to both charges.

At Blairmont Court, Magistrate Ramroop upheld no case submissions by Attorney at Law, Lloyd Thomas, who in association with lawyer, Joel Persid Edmond, had appeared on Benschop’s behalf.

With respect to the obstruction charge, Magistrate Ramroop noted that Benschop had on that date been querying conflicting information, which he had been given on the toll for crossing the bridge and had been in his right to do so.

The Magistrate further noted that there were discrepancies in evidence given about the length of time Benschop’s vehicle had remained stopped at the booth while he queried the toll charges.

“Based on these discrepancies I cannot find that he had stopped his vehicle for an unreasonably long period to the possible obstruction of others,” the Magistrate said.

With respect to the markings on the vehicle, he agreed with Defence Counsel Thomas that Benschop had been the holder of a valid certificate of fitness for the vehicle at the time of the incident.

“His vehicle was inspected by a competent police officer prior to this and was certified as fit for the road. By virtue of this the defendant was assured that all was well. He should not be made to pay for the mistake of that Certifying Officer,” the Magistrate said.

The Magistrate noted, too, that Benschop had complied by placing the relevant markings on the vehicle immediately after being told of the offence

Some thirteen witnesses had been called to given evidence against Benschop.

The Magistrate however instructed that the Prosecution should close its case after five had testified because the others had failed to attend Court on previous dates thereby causing postponements of the trial on several occasions.