The attorney representing Seudat Ramlall, who has been charged with causing the death of Rodwell Brummell in a hit-and-run accident, yesterday made yet another desperate attempt to secure his client’s pretrial liberty but failed.
Counsel Adrian Thompson advanced that his client was given “bad advice” by someone, who, after the accident, told him not to report the matter to the police.
He said while this was no excuse for his client not presenting himself at the police station to report the incident, he is not a flight risk since he has a fixed place of abode and will attend court whenever required to do so.
According to Thompson, if his client wanted to flee the jurisdiction, he had ample time in which he could have done so after the accident, but his remaining attests to the fact that he had no intention of so doing.
He said too that one of the other reasons why his client did not report the matter was because he was unwell owing to internal injuries which he sustained that caused him to stay at home to recuperate.
The lawyer said too that while it was unfortunate that a life was lost, he was instructed that at the time of the accident, the deceased was not walking on the pavement provided as he should have been, but rather was more in the vehicle’s path.
He added also that his client was a father of three and the sole breadwinner of his household.
After listening to counsel’s submissions however, Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry who is presiding over the matter told Thompson that she was not persuaded by his advancements and ordered that Ramlall be further remanded to prison.
A visibly disappointed Ramlall was then informed that his matter will be called again on January 18 at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court for filing of statements.
When Ramlall made his first appearance, Prosecutor Stephen Telford informed the court that the defendant’s car was picked up at a vulcanising shop, where it had undergone a number of repairs which may have been caused by the accident.
Ramlall, an employee of Ming’s Products and Services Limited, was charged on December 28, 2012. It was alleged that on December 20, 2012 at the junction of Lamaha and Carmichael streets, he drove motor car PGG 2758, in a manner dangerous to the public thereby causing Brummell’s death.
The 49-year-old was also charged with failing to report an accident, failing to stop and render assistance to an injured person and operating an uncertified vehicle.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
It is the prosecution’s case that Ramlall was driving along Lamaha Street at a dangerous pace, when he struck Brummell.
Brummell, a 22-year-old employee of Farfan and Mendes Limited, was escorting his girlfriend Samantha Benn to her home when the accident occurred.
Before he was struck, Benn had said, Brummell pushed her into the corner in a bid to prevent her from being hit by the vehicle.
