FIFTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD Gavin Saunders was remanded to prison after Senior Magistrate Alex Moore refused bail for five traffic charges, which stemmed from an accident involving Pastor Cecil Agard, of the Berbice-based Faith Deliverance Tabernacle Ministries.

Saunders, who was unrepresented by counsel, appeared at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to charges of failing to stop, failure to render assistance, being unlicensed driver, uninsured driver, and driving under the influence. He is expected to return to court on December 21.

The police instituted the charges following an accident on Monday, December 10, just off the East Canje intersection roadway. The accident involved 76-year-old Pastor Cecil B. Agard, of Nurseville, New Amsterdam. He remains in a critical condition at the New Amsterdam Hospital. Police Prosecutor Inspector Timothy Browne told the court that Agard, who was riding a motorcycle when he was struck, remains in a critical state at the New Amsterdam Hospital. Further, he said investigations are ongoing and additional charges will be laid shortly.

Meanwhile, after performing a marriage ceremony at a home in Sheet Anchor Village, East Canje, at about 20:00hrs, Agard was heading west along the roadway when motor car PPP 2518, in an attempt to overtake collided with the right side of the septuagenarian’s motorbike. Eyewitnesses said the driver immediately turned off his car lights, before speeding away from the scene, leaving the injured man lying on the roadway. However, public-spirited citizens took the pastor to the nearby hospital where he was admitted.

Relatives said he underwent an emergency surgery and results showed that he sustained four fractures to the right lower limb. As word spread about the accident, family and church members launched a search for the suspect who was later found hanging out at the Intersection Bar at Winkle Road in New Amsterdam. After a heated exchange, the police were summoned and following a search of Motor vehicle PPP2518, a large bottle of Whisky, a cutlass and several grams of narcotics were unearthed.