Court visits scene of deadly accident

TRAFFIC on the east bound lane of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway near the UWI entrance, yesterday came to a crawl as the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court convened on the scene of a fatal vehicular accident. The accident, which occurred at the intersection of the highway, Watts Street, and Streatham Lodge Road, Tunapuna on the morning of February 3, 1994, left the driver of the mangled pick-up truck with amnesia and caused the death of a female passenger. The driver, George Atherton, of Railway Road, Arouca is before Justice Rajendra Narine charged with the unlawful killing of Ingrid Holder, who was the mother of his daughter, Tequila.

Three State witnesses were called upon to answer questions posed by prosecutor Marlon Sambujuran and defence attorney Pamela Elder SC, to clear up issues regarding the accident and the investigation. They were: investigating officer Insp Aladdin Karim; police photographer Cpl Hilaire Fernandez Alexis; and the sister of the deceased, Alicia Holder. Alicia was in the vehicle at the time of the accident and sustained broken arms and other injuries and was warded at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for two weeks. The three had been returning from the Licensing Department Carnival fete and it is uncertain whether or not the accused, who had allegedly been driving at a deadly pace, hit an iron rail on the left lane of the highway, before slamming into a fire hydrant and a wall.

Alicia said she remembered the van hitting something but was not sure if it was the rail or the concrete surrounding it. She said she lost consciousness seconds later. The nine-member panel of jurors were paying such close attention to what was being said and the areas that were being highlighted by the witnesses, that they did not notice three maxi loads of primary school students who waved frantically as the vehicles passed by. Some of the jurors combed the grass at the side of the highway looking for the spot where the hydrant had been located. When hearing resumes on Monday the defence will call its first witness.