Abdel Rahmad was fined Lm100 by Magistrate Silvio Meli after having been found guilty of reckless driving and causing an accident involving three cars in St Andrews.

The police said the three vehicles involved in an accident had Rahmad’s black BMW some metres away from where two other cars, a van and a Peugeot 106 had collided head on.

Questioned by the defence, the police sergeant confirmed that the van and the Peugeot were coming from opposite directions on opposite sides of the road. He described how the car driven by Rahmad had crashed into the back of the van, which ended up on the other side of the road and collided with the Peugeot.

The next witness was Joseph Mula, a representative from Elmo Insurance. Under cross-examination, Mula confirmed that a black BMW saloon had been insured on a third party basis with the company but cover had fallen as the car had been transferred to another owner. He said that as certain conditions were not fulfilled the policy was null and void.

Ingrid Spiteri, a passenger in the van driven by Ronald Sultana, explained how she had been blinded by the BMW’s lights and had felt the impact of the vehicle at the back of the van. She further explained how the van had careened into the opposite lane on impact and had crashed into an oncoming vehicle which hit the driver’s door. Spiteri added that she had to go to hospital due to the severe neck pains she experienced on impact and denied that Sultana was about to turn into a side road before the incident occurred.

Ronald Sultana explained how the impact of the BMW crashing into the back of his van had thrown him into the path of a Peugeot 106 that was coming from the opposite direction. He said he had sustained injuries and had to go to hospital for treatment shortly after the accident and confirmed that this incident occurred at around 1.45am.

Sultana said he had lodged a claim with his insurance for damages sustained, adding that his insurers had told him that if the other party was not insured, he would have to go to court to sue for damages. On questioning by the defence, Sultana confirmed that his point of departure in Bahar ic-Caghaq on the main road and that he had not exceeded the 45 km/h speed limit. He also confirmed that he was driving on the inner lane.

Cross-examined by the prosecution, Abdel Rahmad said that he was driving from Bugibba to St. Julian’s when the van in front of him stopped suddenly and he had crashed into it, causing the incident in question. He conceded that he had been driving at around 85 km/h but when asked whether he could overtake, Rahmad said that it would have been dangerous to do that on the inside as the van was close to the double line in the middle of the road.

Questioned on the situation regarding insurance, Rahmad said that the car belonged to his cousin and had been lent to him. He said the policy allowed any driver over 25 years of age to drive the car, adding that he was over 25 and as such, could make use of the car. Rahmad then explained how his cousin had made a scene in front of the insurance representative claiming that he wanted money and not repairs on the car. He said that the representative had not told them that the car had been sold, but had simply closed the file in front of them and left them to settle their own issues.

After considering the evidence, Magistrate Meli fined Rahmad Lm100 which was to be split into two instalments at the request of the defence.