Charged with an early morning hit-and-run which ended the life of a man who had gone fishing, twenty-two-year old Seon Adams was yesterday released on $400,000 bail when he made his first court appearance.
Adams of 355 La Parfait Harmonie was brought before the courts for allegedly driving a car in a dangerous manner along the Railway Embankment, thereby causing the death of thirty-one-year-old Fizul Houssein, of Success. Adams denied the charge.
Adams also faced three other charges: failure to report the accident within 24 hours; failure to render assistance to the injured Houssein; and failure to stop the vehicle, HC 2231, following the accident.
He also pleaded not guilty to these charges.
On the date in question, Adams was allegedly driving along the embankment proceeding west along the southern side of the road at a very fast rate, Prosecutor Bharat Mangru told the court. The driver’s vehicle collided with Houssein who had been fishing while standing on the southern parapet. Instead of stopping, Mangru added, Adams drove off following the impact. Houssein suffered injuries and subsequently died from them.
Though he raised no objections to bail, Prosecutor Mangru requested that it be set in a substantial figure.
Attorney Lennox Hanoman represented the defendant and explained that he did not understand how, at 4am, a man could be fishing. Nevertheless, he said, his client had indeed been driving and had heard a sound and stopped. However, he saw nothing and drove off.
The lawyer requested reasonable bail while emphasising that his client was not a flight risk.
Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry set bail at $50,000 for the three summary charges and $250,000 for the causing death charge. Adams was also ordered to lodge his passport and report every Friday at 5pm to the police.
His next court date was set for June 20.
Houssein had been fishing early Independence Day with his uncle Kamalelvin Houssein. According to Kamalelvin, he had been casting his net in the trench when he heard a loud thud behind him. Fizul, who had been sitting on a nearby bucket, was nowhere to be seen, the uncle said. However, a “whitish” car was seen speeding away from the scene while the bucket lay shattered.
The man said he suspected that his nephew had been struck by the car, but could not locate where the body had landed after being hit.
Fizul’s body was discovered shortly afterwards, submerged in the very trench he had been fishing in. He was later announced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
