A minibus driver, who was involved in the accident at Linden in which Akeem Jaipaul died, was remanded to prison on Friday when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

Fifty-two-year-old Joseph McAulay of Cinderella City, Amelia’s Ward, Linden was not required to plead to the indictable charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

It is alleged that on January 7 of this year, at Mc Kenzie, Linden, McAulay who was the driver of minibus BHH 454, drove it in a dangerous manner which resulted in an accident which killed Jaipaul.
McAulay’s lawyer stated that his client was the sole breadwinner of his family and that he had never been involved in any sort of motor accident.

He noted that the incident was an unfortunate one and McAulay did not have the opportunity of avoiding it. The defence attorney applied for bail stating that McAulay was a leader in his community and would return to court.

Meanwhile, the prosecution objected to the bail application on the grounds of the nature and seriousness of the offence. They stated that Jaipaul was riding a pedal cycle on the same side of the road that McAulay was driving on. Jaipaul had then attempted to cross the road when the collision occurred. The prosecution then noted that investigations had revealed that McAulay had spotted Jaipaul from some distance before the collision had occurred.

The magistrate subsequently ordered that McAulay be remanded to prison and transferred the case to the Christiansburg Magistrate’s Court.