Driver cops a plea, fined $5,000 for traffic death

A Belize City man who pled guilty to knocking down an elderly woman has been fined for causing her death. According to court reports, thirty-six year old auditor Ian Skeen, originally charged with Manslaughter by Negligence, appeared for trial this morning but through his attorney, entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of Causing Death by Careless Conduct. Justice Troadio Gonzalez then fined Skeen five thousand dollars, which he is to pay by the end of September. Skeen was arrested following an accident last June at the corner of Dean Street and Amara Avenue. At the time, he was behind the wheel of his Ford Ranger pick-up truck. As he reversed onto Dean Street, he knocked down seventy year old Viola Campbell. Campbell sustained serious injuries and died ten days later while receiving treatment at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Senior counsel Philip Zuniga defended Skeen, while Velda Flowers prosecuted.