Eight drivers yesterday were fined a total of $26,500 after each pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol. It was a task for magistrate Wendy Dougdeen-Bally, who afterwards, expressed concern at what was likely to happen as the Christmas and Carnival seasons drew closer. "What's going to happen closer to Christmas? What's going to happen closer to Carnival?" The magistrate asked as she addressed accused Andrew Sa Gomes. Sa Gomes, 25, a ship captain, was fined $4,500 after pleading guilty to being three times over the legal intoxication limit. His appearance in court was almost simultaneous with that of Chuck Attin-one of the men who stabbed to death his mother, Karen, on July 11, 1994. Attin, who was then 16 years old, was convicted on February 7, 1997 of the murders of housewives Candace Scott and Karen Sa Gomes. Attin would return to the High Court today, as lawyers continue to fight for his release. Yesterday, Sa Gomes was represented by attorney Criston Williams.
Williams also appeared for Sa Gomes' friend, Glenn Pontifex, who was slapped with a $4,000 fine after pleading guilty to a similar charge. Dougdeen-Bally was critical of the friends who, she noted, should have known better than to drink and drive. "But the youth are more aware than they were 40 or 50 years ago," she said. Both accused are 25 years old. They were two of five persons arrested for the offence during a roadblock along the Western Main Road, St James, on Saturday. Also arrested during that exercise were taxi driver Benison Bouchelle, 31, of Potato Trace, La Romain, Christopher Charles, 27, of Petit Valley and Mark Singh, 36, of Diego Martin. Bouchelle was fined $3,500, while Charles and Singh were ordered to pay $3,000 and $4,000 in fines, respectively. In a separate incident, 68-year-old Tyronne Francis, a former US resident, was fined $4,000 for driving while over the limit.
He also was fined a further $500 for failing to produce his driver's permit when stopped by the police in Morvant on Sunday. Francis was involved in a vehicular accident and was taken into custody at the Morvant Police Station, where field sobriety tests showed he had consumed alcohol. Similarly, Adolphus Sherman, 62, was arrested in Diego Martin after crashing into a light pole. Before his arrest, he told police the light pole "jumped in front his van." He was subsequently fined $3,500. An eight man-Mark Chapman-was granted $8,000 own bail and ordered to return to court for sentencing today. Chapman, of Sea Trace, Diego Martin, was arrested on Sunday while driving along North Post Road. He pleaded guilty to the charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol. Cpl Parks, Ag WPCpl Pamela Linton-Herod and PCs Melville, Huggins, Richards and WPC Asha Solomon conducted the exercises along the Western Main Road on Saturday.
...and three more to pay $11,900 in South
Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan says motorists who drink and plan on driving on the nation's roadways should "sleep in the bar" instead. He made the comment yesterday while passing sentence on customs clerk Lutchman Dalip who pleaded guilty to failing to submit a specimen for breathalyser testing. Dalip, 57, was fined $4,500 and disqualified from holding or obtaining a drivers' permit for 50 days. He was given one month to pay. He was among three men fined a total of $11,900 for breathalyser offences yesterday in the San Fernando Traffic Court. The father of three was arrested on December 3, 2010 and charged with failing to provide a specimen for testing at the San Fernando Police Station. He pleaded guilty.
Also, La Brea resident Roger Scoon, 42, was fined $3,900 or nine months hard labour yesterday when he appeared before Rambachan charged with failing the breathalyser test. Scoon pleaded guilty to the December 4 offence. He was arrested following an accident at Tarouba By-pass, Marabella. Attorney Frank Seepersad appeared for Scoon. He said his client had attended a Christmas party in Chaguaramas with his friend who was supposed to drive them home that night. However, the friend consumed alcohol and passed out. Scoon, Seepersad said, drank alcohol thinking the other person was driving them home. The vehicle Scoon was driving, Seepersad said, belonged to the friend.
Crane operator Anderson Alexander was also fined $3,900 or nine months hard labour yesterday when he pleaded guilty to driving after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion in his breath exceeded the prescribed limit. Alexander, who appeared before Rambachan, was arrested on December 3 at Pointe-a-Pierre Road, San Fernando, after he was stopped at a roadblock around 9.40 pm. The police detected a scent of alcohol while speaking with Alexander and he admitted he "had some beers." He submitted himself for breathalyser-testing. His reading was 73 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath. Alexander said he worked for T&TEC in high risk areas, such as Laventille, and that evening he was celebrating escaping the area unscathed. Rambachan told Alexander: "We all have a hard time with crime but we do no want the crime of a drunk man on the road."