Fatal Sandy Babb St. accident: Driver granted $20K bail for drunk driving but remains in police custody

The driver in Saturday’s fatal accident that claimed the life of 27-year-old Ian Mekdeci appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and driving an unlicensed vehicle.

Roberto Narine, 37, of Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara, appeared before Magistrate Clive Nurse and pleaded not guilty to the drunk driving charge and guilty to the charge of driving an unlicensed vehicle.

He was released on $20,000 bail on the first charge and fined $20,000 for the second charge, Police Commander Simon McBean told the News Room on Tuesday.

The senior cop said that Narine remains in the custody of the police and is expected to be charged on Wednesday with causing the death of Mekdeci by driving dangerously. However, this will only materialise once the autopsy is conducted on Wednesday, the Police Commander said.

The accident occurred between two vehicles at the intersection of Sandy Babb Street and Vlissengen Road in the vicinity of Camp Ayanganna in the wee hours of Saturday.

The driver of the vehicle Mekdeci was in remains in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital. He has been identified as 31-year-old Sheik Baksh of Dowding Street, Kitty.

Police Headquarters said Baksh suffered a broken left arm, laceration to the head and a punctured left lung.

According to the police report, Baksh was driving PXX 4592 while Narine was driving motor jeep PTT 4136 at around 02:15hrs. It is alleged that Narine was driving along Vlissengen Road while Baksh was proceeding west along Sandy Babb Street and crossed the intersection on the ‘green light.’

However, it is alleged that Narine failed to stop at the intersection and crashed into the left side of Baksh’s car.

As a result of the collision, both vehicles were damaged extensively. Baksh and Mekdeci were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital by ambulance in an unconscious condition, where Mekdeci subsequently died while receiving medical attention.

A breathalyzer test was conducted on Narine and revealed that he was “way above the legal limit,” police said.

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