In news out of the courts, Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo was successful in his bid to recover costs and damages for his BMW, from a senior citizen and friend, as a result of a road traffic accident.
In a civil court ruling handed down yesterday (July 20), Assistant Justice Jeffrey Elkinson said Allan Robinson “failed to exercise the expected standard of care” that resulted in the crash.
Mr Tokunbo appeared before Justice Elkinson last week to request costs and damages from Mr Robinson, who appeared as a lay litigant.
He told the court that Mr Tokunbo should share the share the costs equally as he was aware he had been drinking when he allowed him to drive his car.
But Justice Elkinson said: “He (Mr Robinson) had the opportunity when he felt dizzy, knowing that he had previously suffered blackouts, to pull over.
“Instead, he fastened his seatbelt, which gives an indication that he was at least concerned for his own safety but had a total disregard for other road users.”
The accident occurred on the evening of January 19, 2019, on South Shore Road, near the public entrance to Elbow Beach in Paget.
Mr Tokunbo had the car written off and subsequently bought a similar model for $40,000. He also obtained $5,000 from the salvage value and claimed $35,000.
Mr Robinson had earlier requested that, if he won the case, Mr Tokunbo pay him $18,000 for the “lawyer payout, pain and suffering due to large amounts of stress and injury caused” in the aftermath.
