A 29-year-old minibus driver was remanded to jail by Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday when he appeared in court charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
Ameen Wahab of 355 Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara was not required to plead to the charge which alleges that on January 11 he drove minibus BLL 9913 in a dangerous manner resulting in the death of George Bacchus.
Representing Wahab, attorney-at-law Mark Waldron told the court that his client is married and a father of a two-year-old and he owns and drives minibus BLL 9913.
Waldron said he was instructed that his client along with the conductor and passengers were proceeding north on the Ruimveldt roadway in the vicinity of DIDCO when the deceased and his grandson, who were trying to cross the road, stepped from behind a truck into the path of the bus and his grandson had tried to pull him out of the way.
Waldron also contended that there is no evidence to suggest that his client was speeding or driving in a dangerous manner to the public since the morning traffic would have prohibited that.
The defence counsel said also that while he sympathised with the deceased’s family, it was negligence on the part of the deceased that resulted in his unfortunate demise.
Further, Waldron said that passengers of the bus went of their own free will to the Ruimveldt Police Station to give their statements while the driver transported Bacchus in his bus to the hospital where he succumbed.
Meanwhile, Prosecutor Inspector Stephen Telford objected to bail citing the seriousness of the offence.
Telford said that it is believed that should the accused be granted bail he would flee the jurisdiction.
He told the court that a police officer was on the road directing traffic into one lane. When the virtual complainant and his grandson attempted to cross the road, other vehicles stopped to let them pass but the accused did not.
However, Waldron countered by questioning whether the prosecutor was a witness since the incident had occurred at the start of the Ruimveldt Ramp Road while the officer was in the vicinity of the Ruimveldt Police Station and Ross’s Gas Station.
Wahab is to return to Court Seven on January 19.