A judge is criticizing the fact that too many drivers, whose actions led to the death of others, are allowed to “plead down” and get off “with a slap on the wrist”.
And, Justice Maureen Crane-Scott believes Parliament should reassess the Road Traffic Act to provide stiffer penalties for those who plead guilty to dangerous driving.
On a rainy Emancipation Day 2007, Gail Depeiza, 39, of St Lucy, her children Shaquawn, eight, and Shadane, six, and her niece Claire Depeiza, 15, died after a collision between a van and a minibus at Mullins, St Peter. All except for Shadane died on the spot.
The van, which collided head-on with the minibus, was driven by Wayne Deron Collins also of St Lucy, the boyfriend of Gail and father of her two children. He was back before the No. 5 Supreme Court on Friday for sentencing in the matter where he pleaded guilty to four cases of dangerous driving after pleading not guilty to a similar number of charges in relation to causing death by dangerous driving.
