Questelles man convicted on two counts of death by dangerous driving

Questelles resident Glenroy Bob will learn his fate on July 13, 2015, when he will be sentenced for causing the deaths of Jex “Lala” Henville and Lemore “One Stone” Pierre, both of Chateaubelair.{{more}}

Bob was convicted last week at the High Court’s Criminal Assizes by a nine-member jury on two counts of death by dangerous driving, which occurred on January 29, 2012 at Layou.

According to the prosecution’s case, led by crown counsel Karim Nelson, Bob was driving motor vehicle P 4760 in the direction of Kingstown along the stretch of road in Layou approaching the Bambareaux beach gap. He had several passengers onboard at the time, including a baby.

Prosecution witnesses claim that Bob was driving at approximately 60 to 80 miles per hour, sometime after 7 p.m.

Around that time, there was a function taking place at Palen’s shop where several vehicles were parked on the left side of the main road.

It was the crown’s case that police transport G45 came up the stretch at about 10 – 25 miles per hour. The driver of the transport indicated that he saw the obstruction on his side of the road. At that time, the other lane was clear of oncoming traffic, so he proceeded up the stretch on the right side (heading towards Barrouallie).

On almost reaching the end of the line of parked vehicles, the witness said he saw the car driven by Bob speeding, coming towards the transport.

The prosecution witness said he pulled back on the left in a space between the last two parked vehicles. The witness said the car sped past the police transport and two seconds later, the sounds of tires, metal scraping against wall, bangs and loud screams were heard.

Police officers then alighted from motor vehicle G45 and walked to an area where they saw the car in a drain, showing signs of substantial damage.

The two deceased were also seen on the ground, one lying on top of the other. The men, domino team-mates, were at the time they were hit, standing at the main road near to where the domino competition was being held. They were taken to the Milton Cato Hospital (MCMH), where they subsequently died.

Henville, who received severe injuries to his head, never regained consciousness, and was removed from life support a few days later, following which, he died. His close friend Pierre also sustained head and other injuries in the mishap. He succumbed to his injuries four days after his friend died.

Bob’s attorney Ronald Marks argued that the accident was caused by the police and that motor vehicle G 45 was speeding at the time.

Marks argued that the police vehicle was on Bob’s side of the road and the only thing he could have reasonably done was to swerve to his left into a drain.

Marks said Bob was not speeding, but on swerving, lost control of the vehicle, which resulted in the men’s death.

Justice Kathy Ann Latchoo presided. (KW)