Russian man fined $2m for Palisadoes crash that killed four people

 

The Russian national who caused the deaths of four people in a December 2022 car crash along the Palisadoes main road in Kingston has been given seven days to pay $2 million in fines or serve at three months in prison.

 

Alexey Zaystev, 53, was fined on Thursday by Justice Leighton Pusey in the Home Circuit Court after pleading guilty to four counts of causing death by dangerous driving. 

 

On December 11, 2022 a motor vehicle driven by Zaystev collided with a taxi in which two men and two women were travelling. Rose Roberts-Banton, 54, Zachery Heslop, 18, Delroy Grant and Camille Grant, both 53 years old - all of Seaview Gardens in Kingston - died as a result of the injuries they sustained in the crash. 

 

Zaystev was fined $500,000 in each count amounting to a total of $2 million to be paid within one week.

 

In his plea for leniency, Zaystev's attorney King's Counsel Peter Champagnie asked the judge to take into account several mitigating factors that some of the victims' relatives had expressed a desire not to see Zaystev imprisoned. He also noted that civil proceedings had been initiated and that Zaystev's insurance company had indicated a willingness to settle any claims for compensation. 

 

Mr. Champagnie also emphasized that Zaystev had no previous convictions and had shown genuine remorse for the loss of life.