The driver accused of causing the death of Chief Librarian Gillian Thompson on Christmas Eve was yesterday placed on $500,000 bail after he appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on four charges.
Odeda Underwood pleaded not guilty when the charge of causing death by dangerous driving was read to him by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry. However, he pleaded guilty to the charges of driving a motor vehicle without being the holder of a licence, using the motor vehicle when it was not insured for third-party risk, and taking and driving away the vehicle without permission of the owner or a legal representative.
According to Prosecutor Bharat Mangru, on December 24 at about 14:15 hrs, Underwood was driving motor vehicle PPP 8655 and was proceeding along the western side of Shiv Chanderpaul Drive. The defendant, Mangru continued, failed to stop at the intersection of North Road and Shiv Chanderpaul Drive and collided with the left front side of a motor van, belonging to the National Library. The motor van collided with a concrete culvert and as a result, Thompson, who was sitting in the front seat passenger side, received injuries. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
According to Adrian Thompson, the defendant’s lawyer, his client had received a call from the mother of his daughter which compelled him to drive the motor vehicle. The facts read in court, Adrian Thompson continued, were far different from what actually transpired. He alleged that his client had not hit the bus but that the bus had instead hit him.
Twenty-four-year-old Underwood was granted bail in the sum of $500,000 and ordered to lodge his passport and report to the Brickdam Police Station every second Friday, beginning on January 10. He is set to return to court on January 31.
For the charges he pleaded guilty to, he was fined $20,000 or 2 weeks imprisonment for driving without being the holder of a licence, $35,000 or 1 month imprisonment for using the motor vehicle when it was not insured for third-party risk, and $30,000 or 1 month imprisonment for taking and driving the motor vehicle without the permission of the owner or a legal representative.
