Trinidad: Court offers bail to soldier accused of death by dangerous driving

In the ongoing case of a death in a fatal vehicle crash in Trinidad, a soldier accused of dangerous driving and accident was granted bail.

14th of August 2024

Trinidad: Court offers bail to soldier accused of death by dangerous driving

Trinidad and Tobago: In the ongoing case of a death in a fatal vehicle crash in Trinidad, a soldier accused of dangerous driving and accident was granted bail.

The male suspect was facing the charges of causing death along the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway. The order was passed in favor of the accused man during a virtual court appearance on Tuesday, 13 August.

The case of death in a fatal accident was recorded on Thursday, 28 March, after which the soldier was held he was found involved in the act.

The man was granted bail against the sum of 150,000 dollars in surety, along with other conditions. The case against the accused soldier was heard by the Master of the High Court, Margaret Sookraj-Goswami, who accepted the bail application.

The accused man in the case of death by fatal dangerous driving, who was disclosed to be a soldier by profession, is identified in the police reports.

The name of the accused man is mentioned as Jalani Mapp, as per his official documents. The victim who was killed on the day was identified as a 55-year-old man, whose name was Neil Ballai.

Neil Ballai was a truck driver for a delivery company and was serving his duty on the day when the fatal act took place. There was also a man in the passenger seat of the truck, which the victim was driving.

The other man survived the accident but was left injured at the site and received treatment in the hospital.

As per the reports on the case of death by accident in Trinidad, the driver and the man in the company were driving their delivery truck along the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway.

On the same route, the suspect was also driving at speed in his motor vehicle, a Hyundai Ioniq car of black color. It is understood that the suspect came and sped up and crashed with the truck of the victim.

Reportedly, after the accident, the victims were left wounded, and the suspect never stopped the car but fled from the site. The suspect’s car also suffered major damage.

As the information was collected by the authorities, the investigation started, and the soldier was held. It is said that the soldier was found with the help of CCTV cameras, which recorded the act and the suspected car where it was seized.

Subsequently, the victim was arrested for the offense of killing the truck driver, who was pronounced dead after the act and injuring one man due to dangerous driving.

After the initial proceeding, the suspect soldier was charged with the death of the victim, including rash driving, failing to stop after a road traffic accident, and failure to render assistance.

The suspect was also found to be an offender for driving the vehicle without a certificate of insurance.

The accused was charged under the guidance of WPC Cobbler. Including all the relevant charges, the case of the death by accident against a soldier was forwarded to the court for illegal trial.

In the recent appearance, the soldier was granted bail with the surety of 150,000 dollars and a condition.

The condition was ordered by the judge for the accused to report to a police station for one day every first week of the month. The reporting must be between 06:00 am and 06:00 pm.