Cabbie held in hit-and-run death weeps in court
Judge orders him to refrain from driving PPV for a year
Published:Saturday | February 12, 2022 | 12:10 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
The taxi driver implicated in last month’s Washington Boulevard hit-and-run could not hold back his tears yesterday when he appeared in Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.
The 42-year-old accused, Godfrey Graham, who was a picture of remorse and dejection on his first appearance in court, struggled to keep his tears at bay and was observed staring into the ceiling.
However, during his bail application, he broke down after he saw his sister crying and sniffling nearby.
A female officer, who seemed moved by Graham’s tears, offered him a piece of tissue to wipe his tears, which kept flowing as the application proceeded.
In the end, the St Andrew father of two was offered $700,000 bail by Parish Judge Jacqueline Wilcott after a convincing application by his lawyer, Anthony Williams.
Graham was charged with manslaughter, failing to report an accident within 24 hours, and failing to stop, stemming from an incident in which Philantra Hay, 42, of Titcairn Valley in Red Hills, St Andrew, died after she was hit by his car on January 27.
It is alleged that Graham sped off in his car and did not stop when Hay was hit along the roadway in the vicinity of Washington Boulevard and Aldene Drive in St Andrew.
But Williams, in his application, told the court that his client was not speeding and that the light was on green when the accident occurred.
He also explained that the reason why his client did not stop was that he was very traumatised.
“He was in such a confused state that any normal rational normal human being would be in, having hit a pedestrian,” Williams said.
According to the attorney, Graham contacted him within hours of the accident, and he, in turn, contacted the police.
“The police had no clue; they had no idea who was the driver of that vehicle. It would have taken them some days, possibly months, to find out,” he emphasised.
Williams said that after making contact with the police, he informed the officer that his client was very traumatised and had to seek medical attention.
“And he was diagnosed and the medical shows that he was shaken up, he had some disorientation in time and place and was in no position to answer questions and the police were informed that he was under medical care,” said Williams while explaining that he later arranged for his client to turn himself in after he was treated and came to his ‘”senses and realisation”.
He further told the judge that his client had no previous conviction and that he had cooperated extensively with the police and is a fit and proper candidate for bail.
Additionally, Williams submitted that although the offence is serious, bail should not be withheld as a punishment.
The prosecution indicated that it was not opposed to bail, but asked for conditions to be attached.
Before the judge ruled on the application, Williams further suggested that in light of all the circumstances, the prosecution should review the failing to report and stop charges.
But the judge told him that it is fact that his client did not stop, so what he can do is present his case for mitigation.
The judge, in the meantime, ordered Graham to refrain from driving any more public passenger vehicles for one year for his own safety and that of his passengers as a part of his bail condition.
He was also ordered to surrender his travel documents with a stop order in place at all ports and to report three times weekly at the Matilda’s Corner Police Station.
Graham is to return to court on March 25.