Judge goes too easy
THE EDITOR: A seventeen-year-old inexperienced driver falls asleep on the wheel of the car he is driving, ploughs into a mother taking her three children to school ( so one would assume that this is when the sun has already risen). Thus ends the lives of a mother and three of her infants, ages 11-4 years, the sole survivor being an eight-month old baby girl who was thrown from her mother’s arms by the impact. Justice Yorke Soo Hon saw it fit to ban this driver for ten years, roughly three years per victim. The judge noted that the family had received compensation for their loss. What can possibly compensate adequately for the lives of an entire family? The judge came to the conclusion that the driver was not speeding, driving a defective vehicle and was not drunk. What proof of that was there? Was a breathalyser test done, and if so, how long after the tragedy? The judge also suggested that the driver should have parked the car to "take a rest." In today’s day of what is taking place in TT, is that a sensible piece of advice from a judge? The driver may well have enjoyed eternal rest and his car may now be rusting in pieces. This driver should have been brought in guilty on four counts of manslaughter and jailed for the prescribed period of time and his driving permit be revoked for good, for make no mistake, this young man will be behind the steering wheel of a car very soon again, with or without a driving permit. EVERARD LEON
Port-of-Spain
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"Judge goes too easy"