Man banned from driving, fined $5,400

The driver of a speeding car which was swerving along the road early Monday was ordered to pay fines totalling $5,400 and disqualified for a year after he admitted driving the vehicle without a valid insurance certificate or driving permit. Roopnarine Jaglal, a 28-year-old truck-driver, was sentenced by Senior Magistrate Annette McKenzie in the Scarborough First Court on Wednesday. He was ordered to pay the sum immediately or serve a total of 150 days in jail. Jaglal pleaded guilty to three separate charges of using motor car PAN 1595 while there was no insurance coverage on the vehicle; driving without a valid driving permit; and driving in a dangerous manner. “It was one of my friends’ birthday and we had a little too much to drink; we were kind of celebrating. I wasn’t too tipsy,” he told the court. Jaglal also claimed he was unaware that his driving permit had expired on November 26.

Concerning the insurance on the car, Jaglal said the insurance coverage had expired about two months ago, but when asked about the expired insurance certificate, he told the magistrate that it had been water-soaked and destroyed when the car’s dashboard “caught fire” while the vehicle was in the garage. The court heard that police officers were on mobile patrol along Auchenskeoch Road, Carnbee, in the western end of the island at 2.30 am on December 26, when they saw PAN 1595 proceeding quickly along the road and swerving from side to side, causing pedestrians to scamper for safety. When the vehicle, in which there were three other occupants, was intercepted, Jaglal reportedly told police that the accelerator had stuck.

Asked for his driving documents, Jaglal produced a driving permit that had expired on November 26, and, after the car was searched for about two minutes, he told the officers, “the insurance in the next car.” However, police investigations subsequently determined that the car was not insured. For driving without insurance, Jaglal was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine or serve 60 days in jail, and disqualified from holding a driving permit for Class Three and Four vehicles for a period of one year. He was ordered to pay a $400 fine or serve 30 days in jail for driving without a driving permit, and for driving in a dangerous manner, Jaglal was ordered to pay $2,500 or serve 60 days in jail.