A bus driver, who was charged with causing the death of a farmer by dangerous driving, was yesterday sentenced to 56 months in prison by Magistrate Judy Latchman after she found him guilty of the crime.
Robert Griffith, 40, of Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara, was in total shock when the guilty verdict was handed to him by Magistrate Latchman in a Georgetown court, where his trial concluded yesterday.
Griffith, it was alleged, on May 23rd, 2016, at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara, drove minibus BSS 5550 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of a 37-year-old Andrew Simon.
He had pleaded not guilty and was released on $1 million bail.
According to the prosecution’s case, Simon, a father of two of Lot 107 Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, was walking along the roadway around 7am, when he was struck by a minibus. Griffith had claimed that he swerved from a vehicle and collided with Simon, who was rushed to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, where he succumbed while receiving attention. The now deceased man was also an employee of the Guyana Sugar Corporation.
Magistrate Latchman, in delivering her decision yesterday, told the court that she was satisfied with the evidence that was presented against Griffith by Police Prosecutor Vishnu Hunt.
According to the magistrate, the verdict was based on what the prosecution had presented in court.
During Griffith’s testimony, he had told the court that he did not see Simon on the fateful day but Magistrate Latchman yesterday informed him that the court did not believe that the man “stepped out of nowhere” when the accident occurred.
The magistrate told Griffith that he failed to exercise the five Cs while he was driving— Consideration, Common Sense, Caution, Courtesy, and Care—and therefore he was found guilty for the offence. Magistrate Latchman later handed down the 56-month sentence.
