'This was not a one-off thing'
By Sam Strangeways
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Roger Bowen at Supreme Court during his recent trial over the death of Larry Thomas. His name was cleared on the direction of the judge.
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The van driver cleared on a legal technicality of killing bartender Larry Thomas was previously let off another drink driving charge — after police failed to show up for his trial.
Roger Bowen, 26, was involved in a crash in the early hours of February 9, 2008, which left motorist Gary Adams with a broken knee cap and a piece of bone chipped from his other knee.
Bowen, a Bermuda Air Conditioning (BAC) mechanic, of Sandys, was charged with impaired driving and a date for a Magistrates' Court trial was set.
Less than three months later, Mr. Bowen was involved in the collision in which Mr. Thomas, 34, died. He was at the wheel of his BAC van at the time.
Mr. Bowen was acquitted last week of causing Mr. Thomas' death by dangerous driving with excess alcohol and driving with excess alcohol on April 26, 2008.
The Supreme Court, in the absence of the jury, heard Mr. Bowen gave Police a breath test reading of 126 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood — about 1.5 times the legal limit of 80 milligrams.
But Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons ordered jurors to find him not guilty on both counts because the breath test was given by a Police officer not designated to do the procedure.
It was the second time in less than a year that he had walked free from court after being charged with drink driving related offences.
The case against him for the crash involving 28-year-old Mr. Adams, of Pembroke, fell apart on October 29 last year when the prosecution's main witness — a female police officer known to Mr. Adams only as P.c. Hudson — did not appear in court.
Mr. Adams, who could not bend his legs for six weeks after his accident, told The Royal Gazette he was stunned when he heard about Mr. Thomas' death and realised Mr. Bowen was involved. He said: "When I heard the circumstances — up in Somerset, in the early hours of the morning — I realised this was not a one-off thing. It was exactly two months before that [our cars collided] on my side of the road. He [Mr. Bowen] said: 'I'm sorry man, I just dozed off for two seconds'."
The February 9 crash happened near Traditions restaurant in White Hill. Mr. Adams, who was driving his parents' new car and was not wearing a seat belt, recalled seeing the car driven by Mr. Bowen swerving directly onto the opposite side of the road.
"The impact happened so fast," he said. "My face hit the windscreen and the whole car was on my kneecaps. There was blood coming down my head. I was wheezing and couldn't breathe."
Mr. Bowen was stretchered onto an ambulance and both were treated at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.
Mr. Adams claimed Mr. Bowen refused a blood test which Police tried to do at the hospital because he said he was afraid of needles.
Mr. Adams said he was unhappy that Police appeared not to have carried out "basic protocols" and contacted him only once after the accident, to advise of the court date.
He added: "My daughter was one-year-old at the time. She could have been left without a father. Larry lost his life. He left behind a wife and two children."
Mr. Thomas' widow Shirnall, 32, told this newspaper she was shocked to hear Mr. Bowen was involved in an earlier crash.
"This is crazy," she said. "I just feel as if a lot of the people can now laugh at the government system."
Michael McColm, acting director of public prosecutions, appeared for the Crown on October 29 in front of Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner.
He told this newspaper that neither the officer in charge of the case nor the complainant appeared.
Mr. McColm said the police station of the officer was contacted and he was told that she was not on duty and her whereabouts were not known.
When she did not arrive after 15 minutes, Mr. Warner rejected an application from the prosecution to adjourn the case.
Mr. McColm said: "In those circumstances the prosecution had no evidence that could be put before the court and the matter was dismissed."
Mr. Adams insisted he was in court that day and felt let down by Police. "It makes you see exactly why things in society are the way they are.
"I understand the law is the law but common sense should prevail a little bit.
"If you are put in a position to protect people and you can't do your job properly, there is a problem."
Police did not respond to a request for comment. BAC managing director John Plested did not answer an E-mailed question about whether Mr. Bowen faced disciplinary action over the first crash.
