English student gets back his passport

ENGLISH resident Miles O’Connor, who was charged with causing the deaths of two persons on Christmas Day, has gotten back his passport so he can return to London to resume his University classes. But the $200,000 bail on the two charges has been increased to $600,000. O’Connor will return to court today to get his adjourned date as he is due to leave for England tomorrow. When O’Connor appeared in court on December 31, his passport was handed over to the prosecutor and the case adjourned to yesterday. Yesterday, O’Connor, 23, appeared before Magistrate Hyacinth Yorke-Young in the Port-of-Spain First Magistrates’ Court to answer the charges.

It is alleged that on December 25, 2003, he caused the deaths of Venezuelan Jose Alexis Gonzales Berbesi, 38, and Dhanmatee Harrylal, 32, of Bank Village, Carapichaima. Berbesi and Harrylal died from injuries sustained in a vehicle smash-up at the intersection of the Priority Bus Route and the Lady Young Road, Barataria. Attorneys Ravi Rajcoomar and Andre Des Vignes appeared for O’Connor. After submissions, the magistrate ordered that O’Connor’s passport be handed back to him so he can return to England to resume his University classes. However, she increased the bail to $600,000 to cover the two charges. O’Connor, who lives at Whitney Drive, Hertfordshire, England, has been staying with relatives in Santa Cruz.