Teen driver gets bail for causing two deaths

By Vahnu Manikchand –

The 17-year-old boy who was driving the Tundra in the fatal accident at Mon Repos Sunday evening was arraigned on five charges stemming from the accident and was placed on Gy$750,000 bail.
Gidram Rasiawan, a student of School of the Nations, residing at Lot 15 Eccles, East Bank Demerara, appeared before Magistrate Alex Moore on Wednesday at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court.
The young man was not required to plead to two indictable counts of causing death by dangerous driving, which alleged that he drove motor vehicle GLL 6514 in a manner dangerous to the public thereby causing the deaths of Godfrey Daniels and Shondell Yaw on February 3 at Mon Repos .
Rasiawan then pleaded not guilty to the other three charges. One charge stated that on the same day, the teen took and drove the said vehicle without having prior consent of the owner or relevant authority. The other charge claimed that he drove the vehicle while he was not the holder of a licence for such a vehicle and finally the teenager is accused of breaching the motor vehicle insurance policy in respect of a third party insurance.  On Monday the teenager was arraigned on a driving under the influence charge and was granted Gy$7500 bail.
The young man was granted bail after his attorney, Hukumchand Parag, successfully argued that he is expected to write CSEC examinations in May/June and that the entire incident has traumatised him. The attorney stated that the teen was driving on the road when another vehicle overtook him and this caused the vehicle to skid into the path of the bus.
Assistant Superintendant of Police Lloyd Thomas, prosecuting, objected to bail citing the prevalence and seriousness of the offence as his reasons. He noted that eight other passengers who were in the bus are still hospitalised and in stable condition while seven were treated and sent away.
The prosecutor further stated that the court should take into consideration the condition under which the teenager was driving. The magistrate overruled the prosecutor’s objections stating that there is nothing in the prosecution’s objections to make him deny bail to the teen. He stated that he would not want to impede on the education of the young man by incarcerating him.
Attorney Hukumchand disclosed that his client was taken into custody on Monday after passing through court. The magistrate then stated that he was under the impression that the teenager was only held to assist with the investigation, adding that he was only given a small piece of the puzzle.
Earlier, before the charges were read to the teenager, the magistrate enquired as to why the five charges were brought separate and not with the DUI charge on Monday. He noted that he was given a limited picture when the first charge was before him and so he placed Rasiawan on nominal bail because he was given a “small piece of a large puzzle”.
Rasiawan was placed on Gy$300,000 bail for the two causing death charges and Gy$50,000 each for the other three charges, however, he is required to lodge his passport with the police and report to the Providence Police Station every Saturday between 08:00h and 12:00h. The matter will be called again on April 4.
According to reports, Rasiawan was proceeding along the roadway, allegedly at a fast rate, when he lost control of the vehicle and collided with a minibus which was proceeding in the opposite direction. As a result of the collision, 16 persons in the minibus all received injuries and were taken to the GPHC where Daniels and Yaw were pronounced dead on arrival.  The others were admitted to the hospital for medical treatment.