Had Renaldo Ricardo Skinner pleaded guilty soon after his 2008 matter occurred, he would have been immediately jailed.
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However, said Justice Pamela Beckles, there has been an almost 18-year delay and that was why he was fined for causing death by dangerous driving.
Skinner, of Checker Hall, St Lucy, was back in the No. 5 Supreme Court, where he had pleaded guilty to causing the death of Fabian Campbell, formerly of Brathwaite Road, Sion Hill, St James, on August 22, 2008, by driving his vehicle, registration number L2329, on the Warleigh, St Peter section of the Ronald Mapp Highway at a speed and in a manner dangerous to the public.
The matter was prosecuted by Principal State Counsel Romario Straker, while attorney Latisha Springer represented the driver.
Justice Beckles fined him $7 500, of which $3 000 was due immediately.
Skinner was ordered to pay the remaining $4 500 in six months or spend 18 months in prison.
The judge said she had considered the nature and gravity of the offence, that someone died and that Skinner’s driving fell far below the standard expected of motorists on the roads.
She also considered his “total disregard for the presence of other drivers”.
Justice Beckles said she found no mitigating factors in the offence and it was so serious that it had crossed the threshold for the imposition of a custodial sentence.
As a result, the judge said she determined that four years was the appropriate starting point for the sentence.
She also considered Skinner had over 20 traffic convictions, none of which was similar to the current offence, but which suggested he was an indisciplined road user. She added he had been assessed as posing a high risk of reoffending.
Justice Beckles said she had taken his guilty plea and the delay into consideration.
As a result, she deducted one-third for the guilty plea and two years for the mitigating factors.
“After a thorough examination of all the circumstances of this particular case, including the 17-year delay in having the matter adjudicated, I do not consider that the offence, at this stage, warrants your incarceration to prison. Therefore, I will substitute the remaining sentence of imprisonment with a substantial fine,” the judge said.
The court had heard Campbell was driving his vehicle with his young son as a passenger, when Skinner, who was travelling in the opposite direction, overtook two vehicles and drove directly into Campbell’s path.
Campbell, in an attempt to avoid a collision, pulled his vehicle to the left, but struck an embankment and went over the railing.
He suffered severe traumatic head injuries and died on the spot. His son survived.
Denies sex with child
A man has been charged with three counts of sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old child.
Troy O’Neal Wiltshire, of Wavell Avenue, Black Rock, St Michael, appeared in the No. 3 Supreme Court on Thursday and denied having sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14 – to wit, 13 years – and who was not his spouse between April 1 and 30, 2017; that he had sexual intercourse with the same girl on another occasion between April 1 and 30, 2017; and that he had sexual intercourse with the same girl on October 17, 2017.
Principal State Counsel Romario Straker appeared for the State.
Justice Pamela Beckles adjourned the matters until March 5. (HLE)