Warrants issued for witnesses in Sylvan Reid trial

High court judge Vivienne Harris today issued warrants for several prosecution witnesses in the trial of Councillor Sylvan Reid after they failed to appear in court.

The trial against Reid, who is charged with causing death by dangerous driving, was set to begin in the St James Circuit Court today.

Reid, who is the councillor for the Salt Spring Division in the St James Municipal Corporation, is charged with failing to report an accident, failing to stop at an accident scene and driving with no insurance coverage.

The witnesses failed to appear despite having been previously served with subpoenas to be at court.

Justice Harris instructed lead prosecutor, Leighton Morris, to speak with the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding the next step in handling the matter.

Reid, who is represented by attorneys K.D. Knight, Roy Fairclough and Tamika Spencer, subsequently had his bail extended until Monday, April 3.

Reid is charged in connection with a crash which claimed the life of Jevaughn Whitmore, the son of national football coach and former Reggae Boyz star Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, on November 9, 2013.

It is alleged that the 14-year-old Whitmore, who was a student at Cornwall College and a member of the Montego Bay United Football Club, was pushing his bicycle in the vicinity of the Retirement and Tucker intersection in St James when he was hit by a Mitsubishi Pajero sport utility vehicle.

It was later discovered that the vehicle belonged to Reid.