A minibus driver, who was charged with causing the death of a passenger in an accident at the junction of Sheriff Street and the Rupert Craig Highway, was yesterday freed after a city magistrate found that the police failed to prove their case against him.
Eustace Gentle, a father of eight, walked out of a city court a free man yesterday after Magistrate Leron Daly ruled in favour of a no-case submission made by his attorney, George Thomas.
It was alleged that Gentle, of Lot 51 Buxton, East Coast Demerara, on January 11th, 2018, at the Rupert Craig Highway, drove minibus BWW 1243 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Edith Seaforth.
Thomas, earlier in the court proceedings, made a no-case submission, urging the court not to call upon his client to lead his defence in the matter. This request was later granted by the magistrate based on the prosecution’s failure to make a case for Gentle to answer to.
At Gentle’s first court hearing, the police had stated that on the day in question, he was driving west along the south side of the Rupert Craig Highway, while a truck, GGG 5854, was being driven east along the northern side of the highway. The prosecutor added that the truck got a green light at a junction and the driver signaled his intention to turn south and proceeded to do so. Gentle, it was claimed, failed to stop at the traffic light, which showed red, and later collided with the truck. His bus then turned turtle several times, causing several passengers to suffer injuries. The passengers, including Seaforth, were then taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Seaforth sustained injuries to her body and head and was later admitted to the hospital. She succumbed sometime after.
