Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Colleagues of Constable Mark Needham inspect the scene of the accident which claimed his life on the Spanish Town bypass, St Catherine, yesterday. - photo by Rasbert Turner

Spanish Town, St Catherine:

AlThough Constable Mark Needham made sure to pay his monthly contribution to a group savings plan before leaving for work yesterday, he will never see the benefits.

Needham became one of the latest victims of the road, dying in a motor vehicle accident along the Spanish Town Bypass in St Catherine about 8 a.m.

The policeman, who joined the Jamaica Constabulary Force eight years ago, was heading to work when a Suzuki Grand Vitara driven by colleague policewoman, Super-intendent Yvonne Martin-Daley of the Twickenham Park training division, collided with his motorcycle.

Police reported yesterday that Needham, who was attached to the Motorised Patrol Quick Response Unit, was driving towards Kingston in the same direction as Martin-Daley when the accident occurred.

A good man

While colleagues looked over the policeman's body as it lay next to his mangled motorcycle, they opined that he was a good man.

"Is earlier him come and pay him partner money and him was a very good man," remarked Marcia Markland, a teacher at Mom's Loving Daycare Centre in Willowdene, Spanish Town.

"The last thing he told me was that his desire was to serve God and get baptised, but this will never happen."

She said the policeman's daughter, who is now four years old, has been around the school since she was nine months and it was unclear how she would be affected by news of her father's death.

The constable's brother, Dennis Needham, could only manage a few words about the deceased.

"He was a very good youth and only 34 years old and I don't know why this happened to him but we can't change it now," he said.

The St Catherine North Traffic Department said it was conducting further investigations into the matter to determine what caused the accident.