Written by Jenel Rockcliffe
MINI-BUS driver Derrick Da Silva was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment last Thursday after he was found guilty before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry “for failing to be a competent driver”, thereby causing the death of a 70-year-old pedestrian.DaSilva of Lot 672 Foulis Street, Enmore, East Coast Demerara, also had his driver’s licence revoked for four years when he appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

The charge read that the defendant, Derrick DaSilva, 36, of Lot 672 Foulis Street, Enmore, East Coast Demerara, drove a motor vehicle in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Philbert Adonis.
Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry found DaSilva guilty of the offence and stated that he had “failed to be a competent driver” since he was not under the influence of alcohol, and he was not using a cell phone nor was he speeding in a prolonged, persistent course to cause him to meet the point of impact of the cyclist.
However, she considered the mitigating factors which were given by DaSilva’s lawyer, Glen Hanoman.
Hanoman stated that his client is a 36-year-old husband and father two children, nine and 16 years old respectively, and he is the sole breadwinner of his household.
The lawyer asked that his client not be sentenced to prison since “The degree of recklessness was at the lower end of the spectrum but whenever a life is lost it’s a serious thing,…however, I wish to say that a non-custodial sentence is better.” Hanoman argued that persons who were found guilty for deliberately wounding persons were fined before and have not served a sentence. Likewise, these persons were unlike his client who was coming home from a hard day of work on that day without the intention of wilfully hitting the cyclist down.
The lawyer said further that the accused had no antecedents of any kind and was never charged before the court before.
The magistrate pointed out that the bus had collided with the pedal cyclist in the middle of the road. The prosecutor also objected to a non-custodial sentence, citing the seriousness of the offence, its prevalence and the fact that a life had been lost.