A minibus driver was fined and his licence suspended when he appeared before Magistrate Fazil Azeez yesterday after his speeding vehicle plunged into a rice field at Harlem, West Coast Demerara on January 12 after the right rear wheel came off.
Earl Hughes of 75 Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo pleaded guilty to the charge of dangerous driving and was fined $50,000 with an alternative of one year imprisonment and he had his driver’s licence revoked for three years by the magistrate. Hughes on January 12 at Harlem Public Road drove minibus BJJ 6136 in a manner dangerous to the public. The minibus with 14 passengers was proceeding east on the road at a fast rate when the right rear wheel blew out causing the lug nut to cut and the right rear wheel to roll off. The minibus turned over several times, ending up in a rice field. The passengers were rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where they were treated and sent away while two, Jennifer Lewis and Hughes, were admitted. Lewis was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Police Prosecutor Robert Tyndall informed the court that all the patients were out of the hospital and out of danger.
Hughes, who appeared wearing a neck brace, told the court that the road was bumpy, and the wheel began wobbling and flew out and he lost control and ended up in the rice field.
He was then fined and his licence suspended.
