R v Saltus and Saltus (Sentence)
| Jurisdiction | Bermuda |
| Judgment Date | 05 April 2023 |
| Court | Supreme Court (Bermuda) |
| Docket Number | Criminal Jurisdiction 2020 No 26 |
[2023] Bda LR 33
Criminal Jurisdiction 2020 No 26
In The Supreme Court of Bermuda
Conspiracy to defeat justice — Grievous bodily harm by careless driving / wanton driving — Guilty pleas
The following cases were referred to in the judgment:
R v Berkeley [1999] Bda LR 16
R v Olivera [2005] Bda LR 17
Ms C Clarke for the Crown
Ms E Christopher and Mr C Richardson for the Defendants
RULING of Subair Williams J
1. The Accused men appeared before this Court for sentence, upon their guilty pleas to various counts on Indictment No. 26 of 2020.
2. The First Defendant, Mr Makhail Saltus, pleaded guilty to Counts 4, 5 and 6 for charges of conspiracy to defeat justice, contrary to section 128(1) of the Criminal Code, causing GBH by careless driving, contrary to section 37A of the Road Traffic Act 1947 (“RTA”) and causing bodily harm by wanton driving, contrary to section 320 of the Criminal Code.
3. The Second Defendant, Mr Giovanni Saltus pleaded guilty to Count 4 only which is the charge concerning the offence of conspiracy to defeat justice.
4. The Crown did not proceed with Count 1 (causing GBH when driving under the influence of alcohol), Count 2 (causing GBH by dangerous driving) or Count 3 (refusal to comply with a demand for a sample of breath) which were all left on the file.
5. This offence occurred at approximately 11:15pm on Monday 29 June 2020 when the COVID-19 Emergency Power Regulations imposing a curfew on the general public were in force, the pandemic having first broken out some 3–4 months prior.
6. At that time, officers of the Royal Bermuda Regiment were manning a vehicle check-point in the same vicinity where the Defendant, Mr Makhail Saltus (“M Saltus”), was driving easterly in a motor car on South Road, Paget. Mr Giovanni Saltus (“G Saltus”) M Saltus overtook a motorcycle traveling in the same direction. In doing so he failed to stop at the check point and collided into Regimental Officer Mr Ndavyah Williams.
7. As is stated in the Summary of Evidence:
“The impact caused Williams to land on top of the hood of the car and come in contact with the front windshield. Williams was sent flying through the air and landed in the road on his stomach face down several feet away from the point of impact.”
8. That was the collision which concerns Officer Williams.
9. M Saltus struck a second regiment officer, Officer Kirk Wilks Jr. who was also thrown several feet by the impact of M Saltus' car. A witness observed M Saltus reverse and drive around Officer Williams who laid on his stomach, motionless on the roadway.
10. Thereafter, as the Accused men were leaving the scene, the car hood popped open on three consecutive occasions. On each of those occasions M Saltus stopped the car and both Accused men exited the vehicle to close the hood. Eventually the motor cyclist who had been overtaken by the Accused caught up to their vehicle and shouted for them to stop as they had knocked down a soldier. The hood flung open a fourth time causing the vehicle to stop and the rider of the cycle parked his vehicle in front of the assailants to prevent them from moving. Thereafter the Accused men were apprehended when the Defendant G Saltus falsely stated; “I'm the driver. It's my fault. I take full responsibility.”
11. The regiment soldiers escorted the Defendants back to the scene of the collision where they, the soldiers, engaged in discussion amongst themselves together with other soldiers. Shortly thereafter, the Accused men were seen to have walked off from the scene and into the trees causing the regiment officers to chase them for a second time to escort them back onto the scene.
12. The offence of conspiracy to defeat justice, contrary to section 128 of the Criminal Code, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.
13. The penalty for the offence of causing GBH by careless driving, contrary to section 37A of the Road Traffic Act 1947 (“RTA”) is prescribed by the Traffic Offences (Penalties) Act 1976 (“the 1976 Act”). For a first offender, that offence carries a maximum penalty of 4 years imprisonment and an obligatory disqualification period of 3 years and a discretionary disqualification period of 4 years. Section 4 sets out the approach the Court is required to employ in so far as it concerns obligatory and statutory disqualification periods:
“Disqualification; obligatory and discretionary
4 (1) Where a person is convicted of a traffic offence in relation to which there appears in head 6 of Schedule 1—
(a) the word “obligatory”, the court shall order him to be disqualified for such period as is specified in that head as the period of obligatory disqualification in relation to that offence unless the court for special reasons thinks fit to order him to be...
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