A popular football coach was crushed to death by a truck yesterday morning on Mandela Avenue.
Georgetown Football Club (GFC) head coach Peter Lashley, 54, of Lot 6D Tucville, Georgetown, who was riding his motorcycle to his job at John Fernandes Limited, died on the spot.
Police said that investigations are being conducted into the fatal accident,
which occurred around 6.30 am on Mandela Avenue.
Up to yesterday morning, police said, investigations revealed that Lashley drove out of the Meadow Brook Gardens access road and allegedly failed to stop and was struck down by truck that was proceeding along Mandela Avenue.
The driver of the truck is in custody, according to the police.
But an eyewitness indicated that the truck driver was not at fault for the man’s death.
According to the witness, the truck involved in the accident was travelling north along Mandela Avenue, while Lashley, was riding his motorcycle along Meadow Brook Drive alongside a minibus.
The eyewitness, who was looking out the window of her home, saw the minibus driver and Lashley approach the intersection of Meadow Brook Drive and Mandela Avenue.
She added that they both sped out of the street, in what she assumed was an attempt to outrun the approaching truck.
However, the truck, which she said was not speeding, reached the intersection just as the minibus and motorcycle came onto the main road.
Both the motorcycle and the minibus could not pass the truck at the same time. As a result, she said, the minibus hit Lashley off his motorcycle when its driver pulled into the corner to avoid oncoming traffic. Lashley, the woman added, landed underneath the truck.
In that split second, the woman said, she saw Lashley attempt to move from under the truck but its right rear wheel crushed his head.
At this point, a man who was travelling in the minibus jumped out and yelled at the truck driver, exclaiming that he had crushed the man’s head. The driver then reversed in order to release Lashley’s head, the eyewitness said.
By this time, the minibus driver had already left the scene of the accident the woman said. Up to late yesterday afternoon, it was unclear whether the minibus driver was taken into police custody.
Lashley’s son, Nicholas Graham, said that his father got up at 4am as per normal and prepared for work at John Fernandes Limited, where he was a where he worked as a Gate Clerk.
He said Lashley left his home around 6.15 am. However, he later received a telephone call from a relative in Berbice, who told him to check out an accident at Mandela Avenue. Soon after the phone call, his neighbour called out to him informing him that his father had been involved in an accident. He said that when he and his mother arrived at the accident scene, he saw his father pinned underneath the truck.
Officials from GFC and the John Fernandes Limited expressed deep regret at Lashley’s passing. Condolences were expressed to his entire family by the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of John Fernandes Limited and the GFC.
Human Resources Manager of John Fernandes Donna Roberts-Benjamin, said that Lashley had worked with the company since June 2000. Lashley is survived by his wife and three children.
