A bereaved father was finally absolved of any blame in a Christmas Eve car accident five years ago that claimed the life of one of his daughters, with the court saying that there was no way he was responsible.

Anthony Caruana, 46, from Mellieha was cleared of the involuntary homicide of his 16-year-old daughter in 2001.

He was also cleared of being responsible for the serious injuries sustained by his other daughter as well as his wife and his daughter’s boyfriend. Mr Caruana was also cleared of speeding, dangerous driving and of causing damage to another vehicle that was involved in the collision.

It turned out that the car had skidded in the rain and that experts concluded that the damage caused to the vehicle made it clear that Mr Caruana had been speeding.

However, various witnesses including his wife, the driver of the other car involved in the collision and an off-duty policeman all testified that the car was travelling at between 25 and 30 miles an hour when Mr Caruana lost control after the car had gone into a skid.

Mr Caruana testified and said that he was driving along the Coast Road to take the family to their Christmas Eve dinner. He said that the road was slippery as there was a very fine rain coming down. He added that he had already felt the car skid slightly so he reduced his speed. However, he then felt that he was losing control again and then he felt the impact.

Angelo Chircop, a driver coming along the opposite carriageway said that he saw a car approach, hit the pavement, bounce back, spin about three times in the middle of the road and smash into a wall before finally flipping onto its bonnet. He said that he saw Mr Caruana fly out of the window with his only words being: “The kids…”

The rest of the car occupants all confirmed that they were not speeding. In fact, PC Richard Ciappara was on his way to work and said that he was stuck in the same traffic that was moving slowly. He said it was not a jam, but it was slow-moving. He said that all of a sudden, everyone jammed their brakes on so he overtook everyone, fearing that an accident had occurred.

The court, presided over by magistrate Jacqueline Padovani, said it was clear that the driver had not been speeding. She also said that the experts’ report failed to take into account that the car span out on the lip of a downhill bank. This, she said, caused the car to gain even more momentum, which is why it was so extensively damaged.

Magistrate Padovani said that the case was simply a very tragic accident. She pointed out that Mr Caruana had lost his 16-year-old daughter, almost lost the other daughter, and was also hurt himself. She said that in a case like this, no court could ever impose punishment that would come anywhere close to what Mr Caruana would have to deal with for the rest of his life. She therefore cleared him of all charges pressed against him and absolved him of any blame.

Police inspectors Simon Galea and Ramon Mercieca prosecuted while Dr Joe Giglio appeared for the defence.