He defends them before the court but Grant Connell has called for a crackdown on the “ignorance’ displayed by some mini bus drivers.
Connell issued the call before newly appointed Senior Magistrate Tameka McKenzie at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday while representing two mini-bus drivers who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving. They were fined and handed suspended sentences.
Connell told the Court that the law says a person could be fined and confined for dangerous driving, but Magistrates seem to be lenient.
The lawyer suggested that imposing a custodial sentence and suspending a driver’s licence for a period of a few months would cause the driver to be more cautious, since his display of any further, ‘ignorance’ can trigger the custodial sentence.
Speaking shortly after, Connell said, “I have already made my submission on the point. Some who I represent may be offended, but they have a wide choice of lawyers, and this ignorance must halt. A driver of a van with 18 passengers can be more deadly than a man with a gun, say a .38 revolver with limited ammunition. The driver’s negligence can cause the death of the 18 passengers’.
The lawyer added that, “If the custodial sentence is triggered by their display of ignorance on the road, well Belle Isle has a big yard, they can be given a steering wheel, and a piece of stick. Hopefully, at the end of the sentence, they would have learned to act in a civilized manner.