‘SHOCKED’
Victim’s daughter disappointed with cabbie’s sentence after five perished in Westmoreland crash
Published:Friday | February 21, 2025 | 12:11 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Sabrina Marshall expressed disappointment after Thursday’s sentencing of Delroy Rodney, the Westmoreland cabbie who pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of her mother and four other passengers in a 2023 traffic crash.
Rodney was handed an 18-month sentence, suspended for three years, in the Westmoreland Circuit Court.
Marshall, the daughter of 54-year-old Janet Thompson, told The Gleaner that she was shocked that he did not receive an immediate prison term.
“To be honest, it is a shock to my family given the fact that five lives are lost. We know that we all are drivers, and many times things do happen, but for a sentence handed down that the driver did not get any prison time, I do not think that sends a good message,” said Marshall.
“I am not saying he should have gotten the maximum, but I think he should have gotten some form of prison time because it should not be that you can just drive recklessly and you are able to walk scot-free.”
Earlier, during his sentencing hearing for five counts of causing death by dangerous driving, held before High Court Justice Courtney Daye, Rodney expressed remorse and apologised to the families of the victims, who were watching the proceedings.
“My sympathy goes out to the families because I had also lost my father in an accident. I felt the pain, and I am so sorry about what happened,” Rodney said, his voice so soft that he had to be asked to speak up.
“Please have some sympathy, and I know it is painful, but it was beyond my control,” added Rodney, a Seventh-day Adventist deacon.
Rodney was referring to his earlier defence in which his attorneys claimed that he swerved to avoid hitting another vehicle on the Bluefields main road in Westmoreland during the accident on November 13, 2023. However, his Toyota Noah crashed into a Shacman truck travelling in the opposite direction.
Fifteen-year-old schoolgirl Lavecia Forrester and her 39-year-old mother, Petrina Wallace, of Gordon district in the parish; Oneil Allen and his 65-year-old mother, Angela Samuels, of Mount Edgecombe; and Thompson, of a McAlpine address, sustained fatal injuries in the crash. A sixth injured passenger survived.
Justice Daye sentenced Rodney to 18 months in prison on each count, but with all sentences to run concurrently and suspended for three years. The judge also ordered that Rodney not hold or obtain a driver’s licence for the next three years and that he must pay $500,000 in compensation for each count.
Daye noted that while the maximum term of imprisonment for causing death by dangerous driving is five years, Rodney got a significant reduction due to his previous clean record, his good social enquiry report, and his expression of remorse. However, the judge noted that Rodney failed in upholding his responsibility as a taxi operator.
“An example has to be set, in terms of persons who operate public passenger vehicles, in how they act. This is to let the public – and public passenger vehicle drivers – know that even if you plead guilty, you can still go to prison,” said Daye.