Taxi operator pleads guilty after crash that killed five passengers

A taxi operator who was charged last year after he was involved in a crash that killed five of his passengers in Westmoreland pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Delroy Rodney, 47, pleaded guilty to five counts of causing death by dangerous driving when he appeared in Westmoreland District Court.

Rodney’s charges relate to a fatal car crash on November 13 last year when his Toyota Voxy, which he was driving as a public passenger vehicle, collided with a lorry on the main Bluefields Road in Westmoreland.

He was later charged following an investigation into the accident.

His bail was extended until February 20 next year, when a sentencing hearing is due to take place.

The presiding judge, Mr Justice Courtney Day, ordered a social inquiry report and a victim impact report.

The crash killed 15-year-old schoolgirl Lavesia Forrester and her 39-year-old mother Petrina Wallace of Gordon County in Whitehouse; Oneil Allen and his mother, Angela Samuel, 65, of Mount Edgecombe; and Janet Thompson, 54, of McAlpine.