Brothers were wrestling in street before accident, say witnesses
Twin brothers who received extensive injuries after being hit by a car were “wrestling” in the middle of the road shortly before the impact, according to witnesses.Randolph and Rudolph Smith required extensive hospital treatment following the January 29, 2012 accident on Woodlands Road, and Randolph still has to walk with the aid of a cane more than 18 months after the smash.Motorist Tracey Pitt, 51, from Devonshire, has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm by driving while impaired. She was arrested at the scene and later admitted to having drank two glasses of wine, although she refused to take a breathalyser test.In Supreme Court yesterday, the jury heard a statement given by witness Minh Do to police a few days after the accident. Mr Do had been driving along Woodlands Road with passenger Michael Brennan and a third man at the time of the crash, having spent the evening at a party at the Southampton Princess Hotel.In his statement, Mr Do said that he had been the designated driver for the evening and was returning to Mr Brennan’s home on North Street in Pembroke, when they stopped at a gas station on Par-la-Ville Road in order to buy snacks.The group then continued their journey northwards, across the Serpentine Road roundabout and onto Woodlands Road.“I could see that a car was in the distance travelling towards me,” Mr Do said in his statement.“That’s when I noticed two males wrestling in the southbound lane of Woodlands Road. I slowed down as I approached them. A male on top looked up and then made a gesture for me to move on.“Once I passed the males my attention went back to the oncoming car. As the car passed me I noticed that there was no indication of slowdown of speed. Looking in the rear view mirror, I noticed there were no brake lights coming on.“There was a short screech followed by an impact at the point where the two males were.”Mr Do’s observations were backed up by passenger Mr Brennan.The carpenter acknowledged that, having spent the evening celebrating his birthday with friends, he was “drunk” on the journey home, but recalled the incident when questioned by prosecutor Nicole Smith.“As we came around the roundabout we could see two guys rolling around on the ground as if they were in a fight,” Mr Brennan said.“We were slowing down because they were in the opposite lane and as we passed them you could tell it wasn’t a real fight, it was a play fight — friends fighting. “One of them was on his back and the other guy was straddling on top of him, with one leg either side of his hips. Their arms were interlocked and they were struggling against each other.”Mr Brennan said that, after passing the twins, Mr Do had to slow down to give way to the oncoming car before turning right into Canal Street.“We started to make our turn as the car passed us and I heard like an impact sound — like a thumping sound behind me,” Mr Brennan said.“There was like a big, loud thump. I could only guess what it was. I looked over to where the sound had come from and could see brake lights on the car that had just passed us.”Mr Do continued the journey to Mr Brennan’s house, but began a conversation about the incident. “We were both in a little bit of shock and concerned about whether that car hit those two guys,” Mr Brennan said.Testifying in the witness box, Mr Brennan said that the lighting at the scene had been “fine”.But when cross-examined by defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher, he acknowledged that he had told police in his original statement that the patch of road where the brothers were seen was dark.The trial continues today.