Four days in the Remand Yard prisons' facility was yesterday determined as sufficient punishment for four motorists who were found guilty of drunk driving. The drivers-Collin Peter, Narine Sharma, Narine Ramdial, Ashram Ramdass and Khemraj Kasiram-were reprimanded and discharged when they appeared before Magistrate Nalini Singh in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates Court.
During their first appearance before Singh on Monday, the drivers, who were previously on bail, were remanded in custody after pleading guilty. Singh noted that the offence of drunken driving is a serious one and warranted a custodial sentence. Singh told the drivers she felt their short stay in prison was adequate punishment but warned them to refrain from committing the offence a second time.
The drivers were arrested during a police exercise on the North Coast Road in Maracas on Carnival Monday afternoon. T&T's legal alcohol limit for drivers is 35 microgrammes for every 100 millilitres of breath. Fines up to a maximum of $8,000 can be imposed on first-time offenders under the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act.
A university professor was however not as lucky as the group of drivers during his appearance before Singh. Fayaz Sharma, 51, who was also arrested during the exercise for drunken driving, was fined $6,000 or in default, will face six months in prison. Unlike the other drivers, Sharma only spent one night in prison after his lawyer managed to secure bail from a judge in chambers in the High Court.
Sharma was represented by Senior Counsel Sophia Chote, while the four other drivers were represented by Fareed Ali and Trevor Clarke. The matter was prosecuted by Cpl Edward Edmund.