Rasbert Turner, Star Writer

Spanish Town

A 44-year-old truck driver was fined $300,000 or an alternative of two years and nine months at hard labour for two counts of manslaughter arising from an incident which occurred along the McCooks Pen Main Road in St. Catherine earlier this year.

He is Patrick Chuck of Fairview, Spanish Town, St. Catherine. Chuck was sentenced by High Court Judge Paulette Williams when he appeared in the St. Catherine Circuit Court on October 11.

The crown led evidence that on January 14, this year, Chuck was driving a Leyland truck towards Old Harbour at a fast speed when in the process of overtaking a line of traffic, he ran off the road and killed sisters Amoy and Gisselle Edwards.

An investigation was launched into the accident and Chuck was charged with two counts of manslaughter by Sergeant Osbourne Fearon of the Spanish Town Police Station.

When he appeared in court he pleaded guilty. His attorney, Sean Kinghorne, pleaded for a non-custodial sentence, however the crown decided that with the frequency of accidents on the road a custodial sentence would be imposed. Chuck was subsequently fined $300,000 or two years on count one and on the second count he was sentenced to nine months hard labour.

The judge told the accused that the sentence will run consecutively so he will do the two years plus the nine months if the fine is not paid.