New court date for teacher on manslaughter charge

WESTERN BUREAU:

Kerry-Ann Cunningham, the St James teacher charged for causing the death of Anchovy Primary School student Easton Stapleton, who was killed in a vehicular accident on the school’s compound last June, was given a new court date when she appeared in the St James Circuit Court, yesterday.

Cunningham, who is charged with common-law manslaughter, was instructed to return to court on October 17, after the prosecutor Maxine Jackson told High Court Justice Glen Brown that the defendant’s lawyer Morrel Beckford was absent from the proceedings.

EXTENDED BAIL

Brown subsequently extended Cunningham’s bail to October 17, at which time, it is expected that Beckford will outline his client’s position to the court.

Yesterday’s court sitting marks the second adjournment of Cunningham’s case since she made her first appearance in the circuit court on September 17. The case was put off at that time because Beckford, who was newly retained to represent Cunningham, had not yet taken instructions from the defendant.

The allegations in the case are that approximately 4 p.m. on June 12, 2018, Cunningham was on the compound of the Anchovy Primary School and was reversing her motor car when she lost control of the vehicle. The car struck and killed young Stapleton before crashing into a wall.

During the mishap, a section of the damaged wall also collapsed and injured a vendor.

Cunningham was initially charged with causing death by dangerous driving when she made her first court appearance on July 10, 2018. However, the charge was later changed to common-law manslaughter during her committal hearing on April 24 this year, which was presided over by parish judge Annette Austin.

Seven witness statements, the accident reconstruction report, and the post-mortem report were also admitted into evidence for Cunningham’s trial.