Contractor not guilty of dangerous driving in fatal Coral Gardens crash
Published:Thursday | October 16, 2025 | 12:14 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A St James contractor accused of causing the death of a motorcyclist in a 2022 crash along the Coral Gardens main road in St James, was on Tuesday found not guilty of dangerous driving.
Derrick Dawkins was acquitted after a seven-member jury in the St James Circuit Court returned a unanimous verdict after deliberating for just over two hours before Justice Andrea Pettigrew-Collins.
Marvin McKay, a 39-year-old painter of Flankers in the parish, died on the scene of the accident after sustaining severe head and body injuries on October 6.
The prosecution led evidence that McKay was riding a motorcycle towards Montego Bay when Dawkins, who was driving a truck, turned onto Half Moon Street and allegedly entered the path of the motorcyclist.
The motorcycle collided with the vehicle, resulting in the rider, who was not wearing a helmet, suffering fatal head injuries.
The police secured the scene and later conducted a reconstruction of the incident. Dawkins was warned for prosecution and was later arrested and charged.
However, Dawkins’ lawyer, Michael Hemmings, argued that Dawkins had a clear view of the roadway when he made the turn from off the main road and that it was the motorcyclist who was speeding and unable to stop in time, hence causing the collision.
The police reconstructive officer, however, concluded that based on his report, he could not determine the speed at which either person was driving. But he accepted, under questioning, that the motorcyclist was likely travelling above the speed limit.
Under cross-examination from Hemmings, he admitted that he could have determined the speed of the motorcyclist, and agreed that the rider would have been travelling in excess of the speed limit.
During further cross-examination, it was disclosed that there was no eyewitness to the incident and that while a passer-by had informed the police of the crash, the person’s name was not ascertained.
The court also heard that no checks were made by the police to gather possible CCTV footage.
With the evidence presented, the case was left in the hands of the jury, who returned a not guilty verdict following two hours and 15 minutes of deliberation.