Yvonne Brown’s family is not upset that the man who caused her death because of his dangerous driving will not be spending time behind bars.
Brown, who was a student of the University College of the Caribbean, died after she was hit from a motorcycle on which she was the pillion.
The driver of the vehicle was Dr Christopher Clarke, principal of Shortwood Teachers’ College.
“We have forgiven Dr Christopher Clarke, and we are satisfied with the sentence of the court as we did not want him to be sent to prison,” said Brenda Smith, Brown’s aunt.
She said her sister, Brown’s mother, had written to the authorities asking that Dr Clarke be given a non-custodial sentence.
“He is an educator who is helping to educate persons, so I think that he deserves a chance to redeem himself. This was an accident and it was not a deliberate act so we are all right with the result,” Smith told THE WEEKEND STAR.
Clarke was on Tuesday ordered to pay $2 million or serve 12 months behind bars when he appeared in the St Catherine Circuit Court.
The principal was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving on February 20, arising from the March 16, 2014 crash along the Old Harbour main road in St Catherine.
straight ‘A’ student
Smith yesterday said that her niece was only 24, but was already making her mark.
“She was doing hairdressing, while sending herself to school. Yvonne was a straight ‘A’ student out of Excelsior High. She believed in education and hard work,” the aunt said.
Smith said Brown made a request for a learning centre to be built in the Doncaster community of east Kingston.
Member of Parliament for East Kingston and Port Royal, Phillip Paulwell, said land space is an issue. But he said he would meet with Smith to see exactly where they want to locate the centre and he would assist.
“I do want to extend my sympathies to the aunt and the rest of the family. We do assist in times of crises like this, so we’re going to reach out to her to see what assistance we can provide,” he said.