Keith Hollingsworth, one of the two drivers charged with causing the death of an elderly woman last year along the Diamond, East Bank Demerara Public Road, was yesterday sentenced to four years and six months in jail after being found guilty.
Hollingsworth, of 88 Blueberry Hill, Wismar, Linden, and Ron Walker, a truck driver of 77 Kuru Kuru, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, were both on trial for causing the death of Samsoonisha Batulan on August 21st, 2017, at Diamond Public Road.
Batulan died as a result of multiple injuries, including blunt force trauma to the head, a fractured spine and multiple skeletal fractures.
Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman, who conducted the trial, noted that she found that Hollingsworth overtook the truck that was driven by Walker, without any regard for the sand in the truck at the time and the braking distance of the truck. The magistrate noted that Hollingsworth forced Walker to swerve, which caused him to collide with the car the deceased was standing behind, causing that car to collide with Batulan.
Magistrate Latchman noted that Hollingsworth drove without due care, courtesy, consideration, caution and commonsense.
As it related to Walker, the court heard that he took evasive action since he was caught between a rock and a hard place and in a split moment pulled in the direction of the car that the deceased was standing behind, which then led to her death.
While Hollingsworth was found guilty of causing Batulan’s death, Walker was found not guilty of the crime.
Attorney Tiffany Jeffrey, who represented Hollingsworth, told the court that her client drove for a living and had never been before the court for a traffic matter. She further noted that her client was extremely remorseful for what took place.
Magistrate Latchman, in delivering the sentence, told Hollingsworth that she took into consideration the mitigating factors presented by his attorney as well as the fact that a life was lost, multiple vehicles were damaged, the endangerment of the lives of the persons in his car and the fact that he drove away after the accident. She subsequently sentenced him to four years and six months for the crime.
