Trial underway of driver over teen’s death
The trial of Lennox De Nobrega, the driver charged with causing the death of a teen by dangerous driving, commenced yesterday.
It is alleged that on October 14 th, 2017, De Nobrega drove PRR 7624 on Mandela Avenue in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Jhamallie Niles, 17, called ‘Bow Foot.’
The trial, which is being conducted by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in Georgetown, began with a total of five witnesses, including the brother of the deceased, taking the witness stand.
Police Prosecutor Neville Jeffers called witness Aveledo Lindie, who testified that on October 14th, 2017, at about 9.45 pm, he was proceeding west along the southern side of Mandela Avenue in PMM 777. He stated that while approaching John Fernandes, he saw a male running towards the road from inside John Fernandes.
Lindie said that when he realised that the person was not stopping, he honked his horn and slowed down his vehicle but the individual still didn’t stop, causing him to turn off at the left side of the road and stop. He noted that while the individual was passing in front of his vehicle going north, he (Lindie) looked ahead at the traffic that was coming from the other direction and realised that there was traffic coming and the person that was running had run into the pathway of the first vehicle coming from that direction.
The witness told the court that he heard an impact, which caused him to lock up his vehicle and proceed over the road to where the accident happened.
It was then, he stated, that he saw a man lying on the ground, bleeding from his head, in front of the vehicle that he saw approaching. He noted that there were dents to the left front side of the car.
Lindie added that he saw the driver of the vehicle opening his trunk and advised him to calm down as he appeared to be disturbed. He went on to state that he later reported the matter to the Ruimveldt Police Station.
Subsequent to Lindie’s testimony, he was subjected to cross-examination by Todd. It was under cross-examination that Lindie stated that he never mention in his statement that he gave to the police that the defendant’s vehicle bore any damage or that he was able to describe the driver.
Under re-examination by prosecutor Jeffers, Lindie mentioned that he only told the police wheat he thought was necessary for them to have a full understanding of what was happening and that over time he kept remembering more of what happened because he had more time to reflect.
Trifton Barton, the brother of the deceased, then took the stand, testifying to when he first learnt that his brother was struck down and witnessing his burial on October, 25, 2017.
His testimony was then followed by the testimonies of three police ranks. The Chief Magistrate then adjourned the matter until today.