Former soldier gets 50 months for causing death of pedal cyclist

Aug 10, 2018 News

Jamal John

A former member of the Guyana Defence Force was yesterday sentenced to 50 months imprisonment by a City Magistrate after he was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.
Twenty-five-year-old Jamal John, a minibus driver, of 53 Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, was on trial before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
He had denied the charge which stated that on December 18, last, at Vlissengen Road, Georgetown, he drove minibus, BTT 8476, in a manner dangerous to the public, causing the death of Desmond Grandsoult.
However due to the circumstance of the pedal cyclist’s death, John was never granted bail for the offence.
Magistrate Latchman in handing down her ruling, yesterday, told the court that there is a dire need for a clear message to be directed at the preservation of Guyana’s human resource. This message, she said, must be sent by the courts.
John’s lawyer, Melville Duke had made a no-case submission on his client’s behalf, on the grounds that the prosecution failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. He added that the prosecution was unable to prove that his client drove dangerously, and that Grandsoult died as a result.
Police Prosecutor Shawn Gonsalves on the other hand informed the court that a prima facie case was made out against John, since the prosecution was able to prove all the essential elements of the case.
The Prosecutor added that Grandsoult died as a result of John’s negligence, and that he (John) had not taken enough due care and attention.
Magistrate Latchman in her ruling said that after looking at the entirety of the evidence, she is of the opinion that John at the time was not paying attention to the road.
She added that she believed the evidence of the prosecution witnesses and their evidence was not discredited, hence she found John guilty of the offence.
Magistrate Latchman told the court that she took into consideration that John was going at a fast rate on a busy road. She went on to tell the court that he failed to exercise the five C’s of driving – care, caution, commonsense, courtesy and consideration.
She also took into consideration that Grandsoult received a fractured skull and all the ribs on his right side were fractured as a result of the accident.
She concluded by telling the court that John was part of a disciplinary organization, but failed to render assistance to the now dead man; hence she sentenced him to 50 months imprisonment.
According to information, the minibus was proceeding south along Vlissengen Road at a fast rate while the pedal cyclist (Grandsoult) was proceeding in the same direction, in front of the minibus.
Grandsoult then attempted to cross the road from east to west when the accident occurred.
The police in a statement said that the left front of the minibus collided with the rear of the pedal cycle which resulted in Grandsoult falling on the roadway, causing the minibus to run over his body. The driver then swerved into the trench.
Grandsoult was picked up in an unconscious condition and taken to the Georgetown Hospital where he was admitted to the High Dependency Unit. He eventually succumbed to his injuries.

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