Witness: Man was dragged by car

TRUCK DRIVER Deon Cummings yesterday described the gruesome scene which unfolded before him during the February 2002 accident, which claimed the lives of a father and son on the Beetham Highway in the vicinity of the landfill.

Cummings, who gave evidence before High Court Judge Ivor Archie in the PoS Fourth Criminal Court, yesterday testified that a Nissan Sentra drove past him on the left lane of the westbound carriageway and slammed into two pedestrians who were walking along the shoulder of the highway. Ian Palmer Williams is charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of two pedestrians who were walking along the shoulder of the Beetham Highway on February 20, 2002.  Cummings also testified that around 5 am on February 20, 2002, he was driving a Nissan truck along the highway into PoS when he looked in the rear view mirror and saw a vehicle approaching him in “a burst of speed.”

He said that he was driving in the centre lane of the three lane westbound carriageway, when the car attempted to overtake him on the right side. He explained that there was another vehicle driving abreast of him in the right lane and this prevented the vehicle from overtaking. He said the car then pulled from the extreme right to the extreme left. He told the court that he observed two people walking along the shoulder of the highway about 200 to 300 feet ahead of him, but he could not make out whether they were male or female. He said the next thing he knew was that the car passed him on the left lane and “picked up” the two people who were walking on the shoulder. He explained that one person was flung to the side of the road, while the other was dragged by the car, before eventually being driven over and then left on the road. He said the lights of the car went out and the vehicle continued driving into PoS. He also told the court that he recognised the license plate number to be PAZ 1748.