Laurent McGarrell was arraigned before Georgetown Magistrate Sunil Scarce on a slew of traffic related charges: driving without a driver’s licence; driving without third party insurance; driving without a safety helmet; carrying a pillion without protective head gear; driving a motorcycle while being under the influence of alcohol; and driving a motorcycle without consent from the owner.
Except for the last two allegations stated above, the accused readily pleaded guilty to the charges, and was fined a total of G$75,000. The accused told the magistrate that his “brain is not working, since he is studying his dead wife” and is not in the right frame of mind. Magistrate Scarce has since ordered that he be examined by a psychiatrist.
McGarrell was last week arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on a charge of causing the death of his 20-year-old wife, Gaitri Sahadeo, who was killed in a motorcycle accident along the Providence Highway on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) on June 23, 2017. A breathalyzer test done on the defendant after that accident had reportedly determined that he had a blood alcohol level of 40 micrograms. McGarrell was released on G$100,000 bail for causing the death of his wife.
Monday’s session saw him maintaining his guilty plea on four of the traffic charges, while maintaining his not-guilty plea with respect to driving under the influence and taking the motorcycle without the owner’s permission.
He was fined G$7500 on each of the charges in relation to driving without a helmet and carrying a pillion without the protective head gear, and was fined G$30,000 for unlicensed driving; while the breach of insurance offence also attracted a penalty of G$30,000.
Mc Garrell, further, was disqualified from acquiring or being able to hold a driver’s licence for any class of vehicle for a period of twelve (12) months.
He faces the Chief Magistrate today (Wednesday) in relation to the death of his wife, while he returns before Magistrate Scarce on August 29, 2017 for trial to commence into the two charges he has denied.
Reports are that the June 23rd fatal accident occurred on the eastern carriageway of the Providence Public Road at about 00:30hrs when the motorcycle suffered a blowout. Sahadeo, who was the pillion rider, had sustained severe injuries to her head because she had not been wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. She later succumbed to her injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).
