Yet another delay in sentencing

ELDERLY truck driver Mathura Lakhan, who was found guilty of the unlawful killings of three people who died in a vehicular accident, will be sentenced next Monday. Lakhan, 71, of Freeport, was expected to be sentenced yesterday before Madame Justice Paula Mae Weekes in the First Criminal Court. However, although defence attorney Hayden St Clair Douglas obtained an official report of Lakhan’s medical condition when he was warded at hospital last month after collapsing during the trial, Madame Justice Weekes said it was also necessary for the doctor who attended to Lakhan be present in court. “The Court may have questions, as well as the prosecution,” Madame Justice Weekes told the attorney.

On May 20, Lakhan collapsed in the witness box after giving evidence, and was warded for three days at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH). In her summation to the jury, the judge advised them to put aside their sympathies for the aged truck driver and deliberate on the evidence without bias or prejudice. The nine-member all male jury took some 90 minutes to conclude that Lakhan, 71, was negligent in driving a truck and trailer which had several defects, resulting in the death of Lynette Chaitan Ramroop, 40, student Kevin Mohammed, 14, and Jillian Telemaque Sifontis, a mother of one. The fatal accident occurred on May 24, 1999, at around 5.10 pm while Lakhan was driving a Bedford truck with a loaded 20-foot ground container down St James Street, San Fernando. The truck’s braking system failed and as it sped out of control, ploughed into two cars and two maxi taxis, killing the three victims.