ST ANN, Jamaica — On the day when he was supposed to be sentenced Jeremy Stewart, a former Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus driver charged with motor manslaughter, changed his plea of guilty to not guilty in the St Ann Circuit Court on Thursday, March 6.

Stewart was charged following a crash in Faith’s Pen, St Ann in October 2010, which left nearly 50 people injured and a 16-year-old student dead.

Stewart was driving a bus transporting passengers to a church retreat in Moneague, St Ann when it plunged over a precipice killing 16-year-old Jody-Ann Henry and injuring the other passengers.

Stewart had pleaded guilty to charges laid against him and was expected to be sentenced on Thursday. However, when he appeared before Justice Marjorie Cole-Smith, attorney Linton Gordon made the request to have Stewart’s plea changed. Gordon made the request on behalf of Stewart’s lawyer Howard Hamilton who was absent.

The request was granted and trial into the matter was then set for May 21.

Last year the Court ordered the JUTC to pay over J$100 million in damages to some 30 passengers who were victims in the crash.

Renae Dixon