Man admits manslaughter of five people at Tenaru bridge
THE driver of a vehicle who rammed and killed five people at the Tenaru Bridge, east of Honiara in July had pleaded guilty to the offence.
Danny Benson, 18, entered guilty pleas to five counts of manslaughter yesterday when he appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Ricky Iomea.
A short form preliminary inquiry elected by the defence will be conducted on Wednesday and a ruling will be delivered shortly after the inquiry.
The purpose of committing this matter to the High Court for further dealings as the Magistrate Court does not have the jurisdiction or power to dispose or deal with manslaughter cases.
Benson was initially charged with five counts of causing reckless and careless driving.
Prosecution on the last court date had substituted the initial charges with five counts of manslaughter based on the evidence on the file.
Benson was charged in relation to the incident that happened between 8.30pm and 9pm on 7 July this year.
He was driving a land cruiser heading east bound when met the traffic jam at the Burns Creeks, East Honiara.
He then veered off from the traffic jam and started driving on the side way going past the vehicles in the queue.
A Police Patrol spotted him and gave signs for him to stop but he ignored numerous attempts by the police patrol.
The accused continued to drive at a very high speed until prior to entering the Tenaru bridge, an oncoming vehicle entered the one way bridge from the Eastern end.
In an attempt to escape from the police vehicle that was behind him he veered the vehicle he was driving towards the old bridge.
At that time, a fundraising was held on the western end of the old bridge and there were spectators packed at the fundraising activity.
As Benson veered onto the entrance of the old bridge he turned off the vehicle headlights making it difficult for him to see anything in front of him.
He then hit five people then then crashed into a Toyota CRV vehicle that was parked on the road just before the entrance of the old bridge.
As a result of the accident, five people were killed while three others received serious injuries.
Benson escaped but was arrested shortly.
He was said to be under the influence of liquor at that time.
The land cruiser he used was later burnt to ashes by some unknown person.
Henry Kausimae of Public Solicitor’s Office represents Benson while Public Prosecutor Nickson Tonowane is prosecuting.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
Newsroom, Honiara
