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Sentencing next year for cabbie involved in crash that left 5 dead

17 November 2024
This content originally appeared on Jamaica News | Loop News.
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Loop News

2 hrs ago

File photo of the scene of a crash in Bluefields, Westmoreland on November 13 last year that resulted in five fatalities.

Just over a year after five people who were travelling in a taxi succumbed to injuries they sustained in a motor vehicle crash in Westmoreland, the cab driver, Delroy Rodney, has taken responsibility for the incident.

Rodney pleaded guilty to five counts of causing deaths by dangerous driving when he appeared in the Westmoreland Circuit Court on Thursday.

Presiding High Court Judge, Justice Courtney Daye, has ordered a social enquiry report and a victim impact report ahead of Rodney's sentencing on February 20, 2025.

Rodney's $7 million bail was extended until that date.

According to police reports, about 3:30 pm on Monday, November 13, 2023, a Noah model taxi with six persons on board was being driven by Rodney towards Whitehouse in Westmoreland, when the driver of the vehicle ahead slowed down the unit.

The cab driver reportedly swerved to avoid a collision with the vehicle ahead, and the taxi hit a truck that was travelling in the opposite direction before careening off the road into bushes, where it came to a halt upon hitting a tree.

Three persons died on the spot, while two who were taken to hospital later succumbed to their injuries.

The deceased were identified as 65-year-old Oneil Allen, otherwise called 'Dummy', and his mother, Angella Samuels, both of Mount Edgecombe, Farm district; 39-year-old Petrina Wallace and her 15-year-old daughter, Lavecia Forrester, both of Gordon district, Whitehouse; and 54-year-old Janet Thompson of McAlpine district, all in Westmoreland.

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