Wendell Varlack slowly exited the prisoner’s dock of the High Court last Thursday on his way to begin an 18-month stay in Her Majesty’s Prison at Balsam Ghut. The taxi driver, who was found guilty last month of causing the death of 22-year-old student Tofficah Thompson by dangerous driving, might have received a much tougher prison sentence if prosecutors had proven he was drunk at the time.
However, the results of tests to ascertain the amount of alcohol in Mr. Varlack’s blood and urine were never revealed at trial. What happened to the samples remains unclear, but Justice Rita Joseph-Olivetti, who handed down Mr. Varlack’s sentence, said she would like the relevant authorities to investigate the matter.
In the hours after the April 13, 2010 incident in front of H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, police officers escorted Mr. Varlack to Peebles Hospital, where he gave blood and urine samples. Sergeant Simon Gilbert, who investigated the case, testified during the trial that Mr. Varlack’s “breath smelled of alcohol and he appeared to be staggering as he moved around.”
At trial, Dr. Corinthia Dupuis, a former Peebles Hospital pathologist, testified that though she received the samples from the police and tested them, she did not make a report based on the results. She did not explain why not in court.
Mr. Varlack was arrested after Ms. Thompson’s death on April 30, 2010 and charged with manslaughter. But when the High Court trial began on Feb. 13, the manslaughter charge had been dropped and Mr. Varlack was instead charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
According to the 1997 Criminal Code, the maximum penalty for manslaughter is life imprisonment, while causing death by dangerous driving carries a five-year maximum penalty.
See the March 29, 2012 edition for full coverage.