A motorcyclist was killed in the wee hours of Saturday morning after he was struck by a minibus in the vicinity of the Goed Fortuin Public Road, West Bank Demerara (WBD).
Dead is 42-year-old Joseph James of Walter Terrace, West La Penitence, Georgetown. James was returning home from a party when the accident occurred.
Reports are the driver of the minibus claimed that he was robbed and held hostage by armed bandits, causing him to hit the cyclist.
According to reports, the incident occurred at about 03:00h as he was returning home from a party on the West Bank of Demerara.
This publication was told that the now dead motorist was struck by a minibus bearing registration number BSS 9898 that was at the time proceeding North along the roadway.
Reports indicate the driver of the minibus was at the time of the accident above the legal limit of alcohol. He told Police he was attacked and robbed of his jewellery by occupants of a motorcar.
He claimed that after being robbed, he was forced back into his minibus and in a bid to escape, struck James who was proceeding in the said direction on his motorcycle.
The minibus driver claimed he lost control of the bus and ended up toppling into a nearby trench.
However, James, whose head was smashed from the impact, was picked up by public spirited persons and rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
When this publication visited the home of the dead man, family members were still trying to ascertain how the father of three died.
A neighbour of the dead man who visited the scene revealed that she saw the motorcycle that James was riding mangled at a corner of the road.
“The motorbike was in two pieces, it was broken in two and I didn’t go and see the body because I didn’t want see him like that,” the neighbour related.
Relatives told this publication that residents related a different story than what the driver reported to the Police.
Mother of the dead man, Gloria Lewis, who kept repeating that her son was a very loving person, said she wants justice for him.
“Ow… I want justice for he… he don’t drive fast, he does always tek he time and drive… I want justice for me son.
Anything you could’ve ask him for do and he would do it, anything,” she related.
The driver of the minibus is now in Police custody as investigations into the incident continue.
