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As he was appearing in court, one of his victims was being laid to rest while the wife of the deceased remained hospitalised.
When the charges were read to him, Singh pleaded guilty to both and told the court that he was, indeed, under the influence but, as he was heading East along the Annandale Public Road, a car suddenly emerged from a cross street, also on East Coast Demerara.
POSSIBLE COLLISION
He said he was trying to avert a possible collision with the car when he swerved almost into the path of an overtaking mini-bus and ended up on the other side of the road, hitting a vending stand, which, subsequently, struck the now dead man and his wife.
Singh apologised for his actions and said he was offering compensation to the injured wife and the relatives of the deceased. However, the surviving victims were demanding $10M from him and he had offered only a chunk of that amount.
Attorney-at-law Mr. Harrichand Mahadeo interjected on the victims’ behalf and informed the court that his clients were asking to be compensated with $400,000 but were being given a mere $200,000 by the defendant and his family.
The lawyer explained that if compensation is on the table, then he would be willing to ask the court to limit the severity of the penalty that is to be handed down to the defendant.
But despite counsel’s submission, Magistrate Alli pointed out that the court can only deal with the charges before her and the other matter can be address by other means.
She, subsequently, ordered Singh to pay a fine of $50,000 for the dangerous driving and $7,000 for driving under the influence.
