“If this is the decision, then I gotta face what I gotta face. I sorry,” were the words of Keon Haynes yesterday after he was sentenced to three years in jail for causing the death of a 64-year-old pedal cyclist, whom he struck in an accident along the Grove Public Road, on the East Bank of Demerara last year.
Haynes, a former taxi driver of 149 Wisroc Housing Scheme, Linden, was found guilty of the crime at the conclusion of his trial by Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore in Georgetown yesterday.
The charge against the man stated that on August 23rd, 2017, at Grove Public Road, he drove HC 3809 in a dangerous manner, thereby causing the death of George Klass.
In her ruling, Magistrate Azore told the court that she believed that the prosecution, through police prosecutor Dominic Bess, proved that the accused drove dangerously and it was his dangerous driving that resulted in the death of Klass.
The court heard that though there were no eyewitnesses, evidence that was recorded in the accident report booklet, which was submitted into evidence, showed that the distance from the point of impact to where the deceased ended up was 60 feet. It was noted that the defendant gave unsworn evidence and called a witness, who was in the car with him. Both persons testified to seeing the deceased prior to the accident, but the defendant in his testimony stated that he was going at 50 miles per hour and blew his horn when he saw the deceased and he attempted to slow down.
Magistrate Azore stated that based on the measurements, the fact that the defendant said that he noticed Klass and slowed down but still ended up with a very damaged vehicle proved that he drove dangerously.
Prior to sentencing the accused, the Magistrate stated that she took into consideration the defendant’s age, the fact that he has a two-year-old child, the fact that he had no previous convictions, the fact that a death has occurred and the need to prevent others from committing the same offence.
Haynes was subsequently sentenced to three years in jail.
After being sentenced, Haynes requested to speak to the family of the deceased. The request was granted and Haynes said to the family, “On behalf of myself, I would like to say sorry how things went down. It wasn’t my intention for things to end up how it did…I wanted to stay home…If this is the decision, then I gotta face what I gotta face… I sorry.”
Hearing these words from the defendant caused the members of the deceased’s family to break down in tears.
