Russian man fined $2m for fatal Palisadoes crash

The Russian national who caused the deaths of four people in a December 2022 car crash along the Palisadoes main road in Kingston has been given seven days to pay $2 million in fines or serve three months in prison.

Fifty-three-year-old Alexey Zaytsev was fined today by Justice Leighton Pusey in the Home Circuit after pleading guilty to four counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

On December 11, 2022, a motor vehicle driven by Zaytsev collided with a taxi in which two men and two women were travelling.

Rose Roberts-Banton, 54 years old; Zachery Heslop, 18 years old; Delroy Grant, 53 years old; and Camille Grant, 53 years old, all of Seaview Gardens in Kingston, died as a result of injuries they sustained in the crash.

Zaytsev was fined $500,000 on each count, amounting to a total of $2 million, to be paid within one week.

In his plea for leniency, Zaytsev’s attorney, King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie, asked the judge to take into account several mitigating factors that some of the victims’ relatives had expressed a desire not to see Zaytsev imprisoned.

He also noted that civil proceedings had been initiated, and that Zaytsev’s insurance company had indicated a willingness to settle any claims for compensation.

Champagnie also emphasised that Zaytsev had no previous convictions and had shown genuine remorse for the loss of life.

Tanesha Mundle

Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.