Llandovery, St Ann: A tragic history of collisions, grief and despai

Many residents in St Ann have dubbed the Llandovery main road in the parish as a ‘dead man’s alley’; so much so that they claim the roadway is haunted.

With a morbid dread, the thoroughfare's characterisation follows the death of four workers of the Bahia Principe Hotel in a three-vehicle collision on Tuesday night, June 21.

Those killed were: 22-year-old Eric Forbes of Steerfield, St Ann; 24-year-old Jaynor Powell of Charles Town, St Mary and Teisha Douglas from St Thomas. Douglas had been residing in Steerfield, St Ann for a year.

The driver of the Honda Civic motorcar, 21-year-old Michael Glasgow of Village Green, St Ann’s Bay, succumbed to injuries at hospital a day following the accident on Wednesday.

Glasgow lost control of the Honda Civic motorcar, being driven towards St Ann’s Bay. The car reportedly slammed into an international truck travelling in the opposite direction and later spun, hitting into a Toyota motorcar.

This accident occurred less than a month after five passengers, who were travelling in a defective Golden Dragon minibus, died in another accident on the stretch of roadway on Friday, May 27.

From calculations done by Loop News, a total of 13 persons have lost their lives on the Llandovery main road since December 2015.

However, for persons like Janet Wilson, she knows that this is only the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to accidents on Llandovery main road, which is a part of the North Coast Highway, west of Richmond Estate and west of Laughlands.

“That road haunted I believe. I am sticking to my belief. My best friend died in that accident in 2007 and I am still hurting up to now,” Wilson said.

Her friend, 21-year-old Nicola Jarrett of Windsor Road in St Ann's Bay, along with four others died in when a Toyota Hiace minibus plying the Brown's Town to Ocho Rios route slammed into a truck along the Llandovery main road on Wednesday, June 27, 2007. Thirteen other passengers were also injured.

Research also shows that in April 2006, four market vendors were killed and five others injured in the same vicinity when the truck in which they were travelling, plunged into a ditch while on its way to the popular 'Bend Down' market in Falmouth, Trelawny.

Ms Wilson was quick to point out that while she believes the road is haunted, she explained that the drivers are also reckless in some cases.

One of those cases was highlighted in the worst of all accidents on the Llandovery main road was on November 30, 2009, when ten persons died as a result of injuries they received when two Toyota Hiace public passenger buses crashed head-on.

According to the police, the accident occurred at approximately 9 pm, when the two buses, travelling in opposite directions, collided. One of the ill-fated bus, which was being driven by Martin Carter – later charged with ten counts of manslaughter – was heading towards Ocho Rios, while the other was headed to Montego Bay. Both buses overturned on impact and flipped several times before crashing into an embankment.

Several passengers were flung from both vehicles, while others were trapped in the wreckage. 

Among the dead was 34-year-old Gregory Davis, who was driving the other ill-fated bus. Others who died included 27-year-old Ricardo Coleman and his sister, 17-year-old Christina Coleman, both of Kingston; 52-year-old Noel Brown of Hampton, Runaway Bay; 24-year-old Timothy Anderson of Discovery Bay; 20-year-old Deepak Keshwani of St. Ann’s Bay; 65-year-old Samellia Newell of Runaway Bay; 33 year-old hairdresser, Andrene Nugent of Sturge Town - all in St Ann.

It was at the preliminary examination hearing into the crash in July 2011, that it was revealed that a tenth person had died from injuries received in the accident.

Sadly, almost seven years later, Martin Carter – who is charged with ten counts of manslaughter – has his case still lingering before the St Ann Circuit Court.

“The sad reality is that motor vehicle manslaughter cases are not given adequate attention in the higher courts. Right now before the circuit court (in St Ann), there are manslaughter cases from as far back as 2009 that has not gone to trial. The cases are just piling up and this seems to suggest to the public that accident cases are not treated as priority,” a senior St Ann police officer explained.

The officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, explained that although 36-year-old Rohan Robinson was charged with five counts of manslaughter in relation to the accident on Friday, May 27, he believes that case could linger for years in the court system.

“Officers often get a lot of blame for not completing case files especially by judges, but when our case files have been complete for years and no trial has not commenced, the courts never face the blame. It’s the officers who are blamed. Many citizens hold the view that the prosecution of drivers in this country, who kill others due to their recklessness on our roads, is never a serious thing,” the officer argued.