Boat captains in Mazaruni River crash that left 10 dead listed for High Court trial

After five years of being wracked by emotional turmoil, relatives and dependents of ten persons who perished when two boats collided in the Mazaruni River on January 22, 2013 will finally get closure at the trial of the captains of those boats, scheduled for the current session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes.

Boat captains Devon Thomas and Cabesh Persaud had each been placed on $1 million bail at their arraignment on manslaughter charges in the Georgetown Magistrates Courts in April 2013.
When their matter comes up for trial, they are each expected to be indicted on 10 counts of manslaughter.

Thomas had been captaining the “Matheran”, a vessel which had been carrying 13 passengers, while Persaud had been captaining the “Dube,” which had had six passengers.
The allegations detail that on January 22, 2013, while being the captains of two travelling speedboats, they killed a total of ten occupants who had been on board the two vessels in an incident that occurred at Crab Falls in the Mazaruni River.

The persons who perished were Kevon Ambrose, 25, of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo; Keanu Amsterdam, 17, of Barr Street, Kitty, and his 27-year-old brother Ricky Bobb, whose body was recovered afterwards; Jermaine Calistro, 27, of Boodhoo Housing Scheme, EBE; Jewan Seeram of Tuschen, EBE; Deon Moses, 33, of Norton Street, Wortmanville; Ulrick Grimes, 39, of Salem, EBE; Christopher Ramnarine, 21, of Parika, EBE; Zahir Baksh, 34, of Kaneville, East Bank Demerara; and 48-year old Brazilian national Francisco Olivera Alves.
Justices Sandil Kissoon, James Bovell-Drakes and Jo-Ann Barlow are on rotation for the current sitting of the Assizes.
Justice Kissoon is the lone judge currently presiding over cases that include murder and attempted murder, while Justice Bovell-Drakes is scheduled to preside later in the session. Madame Justice Barlow is hearing cases at the Sexual Offences Court.