Roads ban for man who injured mother and son in crash to stay at two years
A man who seriously injured a mother and her son in a 2018 crash has been banned from the road for two years after a decision by the Court of Appeal.
Dwayne Creary was initially banned from driving for five years in Magistrates’ Court after he was found guilty of two counts of causing grievous bodily harm by driving without due care and attention last November.
But Puisne Judge Shade Subair Williams found that only one offence had been committed and reduced the disqualification period to two years.
While the Court of Appeal this month overturned Mrs Justice Subair William’s finding that only one offence was committed, the panel upheld the two-year period of disqualification.
Justice of Appeal Geoffrey Bell said in a judgment dated December 3: “This should be two years disqualification on each count, to take effect concurrently from the date of conviction.
“This reaches the same overall result as the judge’s holding, namely that Creary is disqualified for two years from the date of conviction and not five years as ordered by the magistrate.
“But the means by which she reached her conclusion cannot be supported.”
The courts heard that on July 1, 2018, the complainant was riding a motorcycle east along South Road in Paget with her teenage son on the back of the vehicle.
As she approached the entrance to the Elbow Beach Hotel, she was struck head-on by Creary, who was travelling west at a high rate of speed and had drifted into the eastbound lane.
As a result of the collision, the mother suffered multiple fractures to her pelvis and her femur. Her big toe was amputated.
She also had to be flown to New England Baptist Hospital in Boston for surgery.
Her son also suffered injuries in the collision, most seriously a cardiovascular arterial tear which required surgery at Lahey Health Clinic in Massachusetts.
Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo said at his sentencing that the crash had caused serious injuries to two people and extensive damage to both vehicles involved.
He added: “Both you and the complainants are lucky no one was killed. It could have happened. In which case you would be facing a more grave charge before the court.”
Mr Tokunbo banned Creary from the road for two-and-a-half years for each offence, with the periods to run consecutively, along with $5,000 in fines.
Mrs Justice Subair Williams said that while she understood the magistrate’s reasoning, he had wrongly sentenced Creary on the basis that he had committed two offences.
She said: “Admittedly, in a case involving such grave injury to more than one person, it seems only fair that the sentence should reflect the harm done to each person.
“However, the effect of the disqualification provisions under the 1976 Act are not contingent on the number of persons injured in any single offending act.”
While she reduced the term of disqualification to two years, the Crown brought the matter to the Court of Appeal.
Mr Justice Bell said that the Crown was correct that two convictions should be recorded, but that Creary should be treated as a first-time offender with a maximum disqualification period of two years.
As a result, he said the proper term of disqualification was two years for each offence, with both to run concurrently.
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