Senior Reporter
anna-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
The soldier who was charged with causing the death of Kiss delivery driver Neil Ballai on March 28 has been granted his own bail in the sum of $150,000. Jalani Mapp, of Erica Street, Laventille, was charged with five offences arising out of the fatal accident along the Solomon Hochoy Highway.
Mapp, a member of the T&T Defence Force was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop after a road traffic accident, dangerous driving, failing to render assistance, and driving without a certificate of insurance.
Mapp was not called upon to plead when he appeared virtually before High Court Master Margaret Sookraj-Goswami yesterday. As part of his bail conditions, Mapp has been ordered to report to a police station one day in the first week of every month, between 6 am and 6 pm.
Ballai, 55, of Eccles Trace, Spring Village, Valsayn, was driving the company’s Isuzu truck when he was rear-ended by a black Hyundai Ioniq, which sped off.
He died at the scene as a result of the accident, while a co-worker who was in the truck at the time was also injured and had to be hospitalised. The accident was captured by a dashcam mounted in a vehicle that had been driving behind the truck driven by Ballai.
That footage was later shared on social media and assisted in the police in identifying the driver.
Mapp will reappear before a Couva magistrate on August 13. The charges were laid by WPC Hernandez-Cobbler.
