…can’t pay compensation and get off – presiding Magistrate
BY SHEMUEL FANFAIR
A West Bank Demerara man has been sentenced to jail for causing the 2014 Christmas Eve death of
Dead: Khemawattie Mohabir
Khemawattie Mohabir.
In a packed Wales Magistrate’s Court courtroom on Thursday, Magistrate Clive Nurse sentenced Kalim Mohamed to two years imprisonment for causing the death of Khemawattie Mohabir on December 24, 2014 by dangerous driving.
Magistrate Nurse in reading out the sentence to the defendant noted that the court “pondered the scenario” of the $600,000 compensation that Mohamed gave the woman’s family. However, it was noted that the court was not satisfied as a life was lost. Nurse reasoned that the court cannot allow an impression to prevail that drivers can operate dangerously on the roadways, pay compensation and get off “scotch free”.
“The wrong message is sent to society [if] you can drive dangerously on the road; pay a couple hundred thousand dollars and get of off free,” the Magistrate noted.
The defendant’s lawyer requested that a jail term be suspended on the grounds that the $600,000 compensation had been paid. The Magistrate however maintained that once people are killed on the roadway, the perpetrators must “spend some time” behind bars, adding that sentencing will serve as a “deterrent” to future occurrences. Nevertheless, the compensation Mohamed paid was taken into consideration in relation to the amount of time the defendant would spend behind bars.
Magistrate Nurse then outlined that the offence carries three to five years in jail but the defendant’s term was reduced. In the midst of light murmuring and mild gasps from those present in the courtroom, Mohamed was taken away into Police custody and will serve two years in prison.
Khemawattie Mohabir, a 27-year-old mother of two, resided Lot 70 Vriesland, West Bank Demerara, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) at the time of her death. She died after she was struck while walking along a roadway near her home. Reports indicate that Mohabir suffered injuries to her neck and skull. It was also reported that Mohamed’s vehicle dragged the mother of two some 60 feet before it stopped.
