Sergeant gets suspended sentence for causing deacon’s death

A police sergeant who was speeding and broke traffic rules while responding to an emergency call , causing the death of a 74-year-old church deacon, has received a suspended prison sentence.

 

Justice Pamela Beckles sentenced Station Sergeant Troy Small, of Hoytes Terrace, St James, to serve two years in prison, but suspended for the same period, after a jury convicted him of causing the death by dangerous driving of Denzil Allman on Black Rock Main Road on December 8, 2021.

 

The judge said: “On the day of this incident, you were performing your role as a police officer responding to an urgent report. Because of this, I have thought carefully about how best to categorise your driving, especially as regards the question of speed and failure to stop or slow down instead of going through the red lights. It should have been obvious to you that if you had the red lights, then the persons coming from Fairfield Road would have the green lights.

 

“You assumed that they would have heard the siren and seen the flashing beacons in spite of the obstruction of the wall in that area. And that assumption on your part cost Mr Allman his life. I conclude that your driving did create a very significant risk of danger to others and that the speed at which you were driving was grossly excessive for the road, taking account of the conditions of the road and the area at the time.”

 

Noting that no sentence passed could “reduce the unbearable tragedy that these events represent or ever be adequate when viewed by loved ones who find themselves in such tragic circumstances”, Justice Beckles stressed that it must be fair and “in accordance with the relevant guidelines”.

 

She highlighted that under the law the maximum penalty for the offence of causing death by dangerous driving is one of ten years’ imprisonment.

 

The judge said she considered the nature and gravity of the offence in that a life was lost, that Small’s standard of driving fell below what was expected of a competent and careful driver, and that the officer lacked regard for the presence of other drivers on the road, as even though he was responding to an emergency, he was driving at around 106 kilometres per hour in a 60 kilometres per hour zone. 

 

The judge also found that he had committed other offences at the same time, including driving through a red light at the junction and the severity of the injuries caused to the deceased, who had no time to “accelerate, stop or react” before the police vehicle crashed into his car, and the impact on Allman’s family.

 

Reaching a three-year starting point, a deduction of one year was made due to Small’s conduct in the immediate aftermath of the accident by giving medical attention to the deacon, along with his cooperation with other officers, his previously clean record, expression of remorse, and favourable pre-sentence report, which deemed him at low-risk of reoffending.

 

In the sentencing remarks, the judge said: “I must consider whether you are dangerous and this involves me asking myself whether you pose a significant risk of causing serious injury by the commission of further offences. There is nothing to suggest that you are dangerous or that you pose any risk to members of the public.”

 

Justice Beckles further noted a distinction between this offence and crimes of violence. “I do believe that persons who commit offences of dangerous driving which result in death are less likely to commit the same offence again,” she said. “They, unlike those who commit crimes of violence, do not intend to harm their victims.”

 

Finding that the case qualified as an “exceptional case” , the judge stressed the need for accountability: “You were a police officer in the execution of your duties who, however, committed a dangerous act which resulted in the death of Mr Allman and you must be held accountable for that.”

(JB)