Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 24/12/2025 09:37

Road to nowhere

CHRISTIAN Adams, 38, and Teresa Alleyne-Adams, 38, are not household names. But they should be. On a bright afternoon in May 2023, the Tobago couple were on their way to pick up their children when disaster struck. Their white Suzuki was pinned by a dump truck that had collided with other vehicles and overturned along the Claude Noel Highway. Mr Adams, a firefighter, and his wife, a civil servant, were declared dead at the scene. The tragedy had a sequel days later, when a relative, who had flown into Tobago to attend the Adams’ funeral, drowned during his visit. After all of this, a man was charged and a dangerous driving trial was set. Yet, on December 17, the case collapsed – prosecutors informed Justice Nalini Singh that no further evidence would be adduced. The driver walked free. Not only should the tragic road traffic accident that left the Adams’ three children orphans haunt this country, but the abrupt and unsatisfactory end of the trial should be a mark of shame. Two years after the events in question, and on the eve of Christmas, the family has been left not only with their grief but with the terrible uncertainty as to whether anyone might ever face justice. When the couple died in 2023, the matter became, for a moment, a cause célèbre. Farley Augustine, the Chief Secretary, attended the funeral. Ancil Dennis, his predecessor, appeared at a memorial. THA officials pledged to “take care of the children” left behind by the couple, who were known simply as Chris and Terry, and who were described by those closest to them as being completely devoted to their offspring and to their faith in God. It was a seven-day wonder. None of the 2023 publicity prevented this month’s stinging and upsetting outcome in the trial at the Scarborough High Court. The trial had been in progress for three days. Witnesses had testified and been cross-examined. But the prosecutor then abruptly stated there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction. He invoked both the prosecutorial code and a directive from the Office of the DPP. Why did it take two years for authorities to glean there was not enough to carry on a trial? Was a coroner’s inquest the way to go? Here is how the accident that killed the couple is described in an account from a relative published on the website of road safety group Arrive Alive: “When a negligent driver was veering off the highway in Tobago because she was on her phone, a truck driver had to swerve to avoid her.” Is there any truth in this? And will the country, and more importantly the children left behind, ever know? The post Road to nowhere appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.