Man killed by speeding car after leaving Masjid

As he made his way back home after his regular morning prayer session at a Mandela Avenue Masjid, a man was fatally hit by a speeding car yesterday morning.

Vincent Barclay, 42, of Norton Street, was riding his bicycle going north on Mandela Avenue, George-town when he was suddenly struck by a car that was headed in the opposite direction along the road.

His twisted body was flung into the air at the impact, landing in a pile in a nearby ditch. Barclay died at the scene.

Eyewitnesses said that when he was pulled out of the trench he was choking, struggling to draw breaths. His arm and legs lay twisted on the road corner as people gathered around to help.

Ryan Roberts, 28, the driver of the car, PKK 5970, suffered injuries to his chest and face. He was detained by the police for a short time and then sent to the Georgetown Public Hospital for treatment. He sustained a fractured nose, broken teeth and broken ribs. However, the extent of his injuries is unknown.

Vincent Barclay

An attendant at the gas station near the scene of the accident told this newspaper that she had just signed in for her morning shift when she saw the car speeding along the avenue headed south. She said that the car tried to overtake another car, which was also speeding, when the accident occurred.

“It left me stupid,” she said. “The car was speeding coming. The road wasn’t even busy and I saw the man riding on his bicycle. He was headed to KFC side when the car hit him and he fling up in the air. You ever see a body get hit and fling in the air? Well, this morning I saw it. That car was coming with too much speed. The driver couldn’t have stopped if he wanted to,” she added.

Another eyewitness said that he saw when the man got hit. “He body fling in the air and the car toppled over and over,” the young man said. He said that the car finally landed on its roof in the driveway of a nearby wash bay after toppling several times.

Barclay was the sole provider for his four children, who reside in Linden. When Stabroek News visited the dead man’s sister, Sharon, she said that they were unsure about how to break the news to the children, who were coming down to Georgetown yesterday afternoon to visit their father.

Ryan Roberts’ car toppled several times before landing on its roof after he struck bicyclist Vincent Barclay.

Sharon said that her brother left his Norton Street residence early yesterday morning for prayer at a Mosque on Mandela Avenue. She said that it was his usual morning routine. “He was dedicated to it,” she explained.

At 6 am, a man from the Mosque visited her house and told her the news of her brother’s death.  “He shock me. He say that a car just killed my brother. The man deh down deh come fast. The car topple over but I just keep hollering,” Sharon said, weeping whilst trying to comfort another sister of Barclay.

“I didn’t even believe what he telling me. I say it gah be someone else not he. But the man keep insisting and so I send my husband and he call me and say that is for truth. He get killed. He foot bruk, his hand break, and his ribs,” she told this newspaper.

Barclay’s niece said that her aunt, who was a police officer, overheard a sergeant at the East La Penitence Police Station saying that the driver of the car was under the influence of alcohol. “You can’t drink and drive. If you drink don’t drive. But you drink you ain’t gon expect you gon kill people. My uncle get four children,” she said.

She said that she saw pictures of the wrecked car and was surprised when she was told that the driver survived.
Barclay’s sister said that she was told by the guard at the wash bay that her brother’s body was laying at the scene for a long period before any medical officials or police arrived.

The body of Vincent Barclay was taken to the Lyken’s Funeral Home and a post-mortem will be done today. The driver of the vehicle was in police custody late yesterday afternoon to help with investigations.