The Tribune

BRENT and Eulona Johnson were much loved. When they died in a fatal crash on Christmas Day 2020, the tributes were heartfelt.

The couple ran an ice cream shop in the Mall at Marathon, The Sweet Life, while Mr Johnson was well known in the athletics field having been a pole vaulter then prominent in the tennis community. They were said to have given “generously and unselfishly to the up-building of tennis in The Bahamas”.

A candlelight service was held at the National Tennis Centre, where one of Mr Johnson’s brothers talked of how it was “still a shock that he and his wife have just gone like that”.

Two of their children were badly injured in the same crash. In a moment, an instant on a day that should be celebration, it became a day of mourning for not just one family, but an entire community.

All that happened when Alexander Butler decided to drive recklessly. Driving east on West Bay Street, he overtook a vehicle and collided with the Nissan March being driven by the Johnsons. A third car was also involved in the collision. In total, six people sustained injuries – two of them fatally. In his hands, Mr Butler’s car became a weapon, and he didn’t seem to care who got in its way until it was too late.

Mr Butler was in tears in court yesterday as he was given his sentence for his action – a mere $20,000 fine for tearing a family apart.

The magistrate wanted to give him a greater penalty – but that was the most she could award. For each death, she fined him $10,000 for killing in the course of dangerous driving.

If he doesn’t pay, he will spend a year behind bars on each count – to run consecutively for two years in prison.

But if he does pay, that’s all he’ll get.

As Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans said: “I don’t know if that was my mummy and daddy and I could sit here and listen to the court give a fine, but that’s what the law says. But paying the Queen’s fine of $20,000 does not help the families of the victims.”

She said Mr Butler’s actions were stupid, and he ought to pay for it.

Mr Butler cried in court as he said he was not a “bad person”. He told the court: “It’s killing me inside honestly. These ain’t no fake tears.”

Killing him inside? He killed people in real life.

So what do we do? This won’t be the last time someone will kill someone by driving recklessly. Do we accept a fine as adequate punishment for destroying the lives of a family?

Do we brush off the obvious frustration of the magistrate who wanted to impose a more fitting penalty?

The law can change. The law should change. For those who drive recklessly and cost someone their life, the maximum penalty should be appropriate. Accidents happen, and should not be over penalised – but reckless driving is done by those who don’t consider the lives of others, and should be met with an appropriate response.

Actions should have appropriate consequences. The Johnson family have not been served by our justice system. Will future victims of reckless driving be as ill served? Or will we make a change?

Revive Downtown

Downtown Nassau suffered a major blow this week with the announcement of the closure of the Hilton. It comes at a time when elsewhere in the area, efforts are being made to revive the Downtown economy.

If that sounds like a piecemeal approach to the district, you’re right. You only have to take a walk through the area and you’ll see new development right next to buildings that are falling apart at the seams. Take a walk beyond East Street and you’ll find building after building boarded up and left derelict.

Parking is a problem. Suggested pedestrianisation has never gone anywhere. Many tenants are not keeping buildings up to scratch, and many landlords are not investing to refurbish buildings long in need of freshening up.

It sounds a mess – and in places it is. But in all of that is an opportunity. Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis could be the man to grasp that opportunity, if he wishes. Put a strong focus on reviving the area, encouraging the sprucing up of buildings, incentives to businesses to move into the abandoned sections – and come up with a plan for the Hilton.

At the end of Mr Davis’ first term in office, could he look back at a time of change for Downtown? Leaving a legacy is never easy for any leader – but the opportunity is there if Mr Davis wants to make a difference.