Driver freed in accident that killed 3 people after matter settled outside of court

Months after an accident claimed the lives of three porters on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, charges against the driver were dismissed on Wednesday after the affected families agreed to be compensated.

The driver, Shawn Lim of Hyde Park, Timehri, East Bank Demerara, was charged with three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The accident, which occurred at around 23:30 hrs on August 3, 2022, claimed the lives of Michael Edwards of Timehri Base Road, Wilfred Phillips and Alicious Squad, both from the Pomeroon River along the Essequibo Coast.

The case was being heard at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman.

The court confirmed that the charges were dismissed after the families informed the court of their decision to accept compensation from Lim.

The News Room was reliably informed that a sum of $9M was reportedly paid to the families of the victims, with each of them accepting $3M.

At the time of the accident, the porters were passengers of motor lorry GNN 4083 which toppled while traversing along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.

According to the Police report, the lorry was proceeding north along the Highway when the driver alleged that he saw something run across the road and he swerved to avoid a collision and lost control of the vehicle.

The left side wheel collided with the barranca causing the vehicle to turn turtle in a nearby ditch.

As a result, the three victims who were all seated on top of some utility poles in the tray of the lorry were pinned at the bottom of the vehicle.

They were pronounced dead at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.