Speeder's defence fails to impress
"spinning a yarn'' yesterday when she denied the offence.
Derika Simons was clocked by Police using a laser gun coming out of St.
David's and stopped by officers on Kindley Field Road.
Although she denied speeding, when asked by Crown counsel Wayne Caines, what speed she thought she was doing, she replied: "About 60 something.'' Mr. Caines asked: "Do you know what the speed limit is?'' Simons replied: "35 kph.'' Simons, 19, of Shelton Road, Devonshire, told the court she had not overtaken anyone and Police could not have spotted her doing so.
When she was stopped by an officer, she said she did not overtake anyone and told Police: "I wasn't doing 86.
"Why didn't you stop the cars in front?'' Acting Senior Magistrate Edward King told Simons yesterday: "You elected to testify, but raised nothing which amounted to a defence.
"Your testimony was nothing but a yarn spun by you with a gaping hole in it which caused no doubt whatsoever in my mind on the veracity of the two officers.'' Before Mr. King fined Simons $600 and banned her from driving cars for a year, he asked her if she wanted to say anything.
Crown counsel Graveney Bannister whispered to her that she should say sorry, but Simons snapped: "No, I ain't saying sorry.'' Mr. King told Simons, who is unemployed, to get a job so she can pay her fine.
In the same court, Calvin Eugene Cumberbatch, of Bridge Street, St. George's, was banned from driving cars for one year and fined $770, when he pleaded guilty to speeding at 89 kph on Middle Road, Devonshire, and 66 kph at Kindley Field Road.