A Magistrate has ruled that the death of a Police officer involved in a road traffic accident earlier this year was a result of impaired driving.

It was an emotional day for Police officer Robin Hollinsid's family and many friends who turned out to hear details of the accident unfold.

Acting Magistrate Justin Williams, who presided over the inquest of officer Hollinsid, formed his judgment late in the day after hearing key testimony from the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital's forensic pathologist Dr. John Obafunwa, a road traffic reconstruction expert and passengers present in the car Hollinsid hit.

The court also heard that Jamal Warren - the driver of the car who left the scene of the accident - was called to testify, but did not under the advice of his lawyer Elizabeth Christopher. Warren was subsequently convicted on driving while impaired at the time of the accident.

When delivering his judgement, Mr. Williams said: "Mr. Hollinsid's death was not due to natural causes. He was impaired beyond the legal limit. There was an accumulation of blood in the chest cavity as a result of the accident.

"The deceased was travelling at an early hour around a sharp bend and he collided with a jeep and suffered fatal injuries and died. The deceased was travelling at a high rate of speed and hit the right centre of the vehicle showed he was still in the process of travelling further right into the carriage way".

The accident occurred in the early hours of January 27, when Mr. Hollinsid's motorcycle veered into the other lane and struck Warren's jeep head-on while he tried to negotiate a bend near Christ Church in Devonshire.

Dr. Obafunwa testified that Mr. Hollinsid suffered serious internal and head injuries after his motorcycle collided with the jeep, thrusting him into the windshield, into the air and then to the ground.

He explained that he performed an autopsy examination of Mr. Hollinsid after the accident and found that he had 95 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

The legal limit is 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

The force of the impact, said Dr. Obafunwa, caused Mr. Hollinsid's major heart artery to rupture, causing an accumulation of blood in the chest cavity.

On the night of the accident, Mr. Hollinsid and several friends were at a birthday party for a friend at the Police Recreation Club in Prospect.

There, his friends said he remained for several hours; they testified that he was not intoxicated and that he was acting very normal.

"I would call Robin a good friend," said friend of ten years, Pc Andrew Rollins. "We were at a birthday party and the mood that evening was very happy. I remember that he bought a round of drinks - he seemed fine to me. We talked more than we drank. It was not that kind of atmosphere."

The accident was witnessed by the passengers in the jeep, Huwvonnie Brown and Chaydora Caines-Jones.

Mr. Brown said that after the impact he got out to help Mr. Hollinsid and was shocked to see his friend, Warren drive away after the accident.

"I remember feeling the force of a powerful impact," said Mr. Brown, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. "I got out and tried to help - I could see that he (Mr. Hollinsid) was struggling for breath. I didn't know what to think at the sight of Jamal driving away, I just shook my head. I guess he was confused and in shock."

The court heard that eventually Warren was arrested and charged with impaired driving in the later hours following the accident, however there were no further charges laid against him.