A 16-year-old boy was yesterday jailed for five months suspended for a year after he was found guilty of seriously injuring a man following a traffic accident on 21 February 2004 in Gharghur.

The court heard how the teenage boy, whose name cannot be published since he is still a minor, took his father’s car which was parked in front of his house in Mosta. While he was driving through Gharghur Road, he failed to stop at a stop sign and as a result, Edward Calleja who was driving his Honda motorbike, crashed into the car and suffered serious injuries.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani, heard that the boy’s father had parked his grey Toyota Starlet in front of his house when he went home to take a shower.

A motorist testified that he had just parked his car in the road in question at around 7pm when he heard a loud noise and noticed that a dark car and a motorbike had collided. He said that the car drove off but he managed to take down its registration number.

The 16-year-old boy told the court that while he was driving through Gharghur, he stopped at a stop sign. He said that while he was stationery, a motorbike which was being driven at high speed lost control and fell to the ground but did not hit his car.

However, testifying in court, Mr Calleja said he was riding his motorbike at moderate speed when the Toyota Starlet failed to stop at a stop sign and hit him. As a result of the accident, Mr Calleja suffered a number of broken ribs and had fractured his shoulder blade.

Handing down her judgement, Magistrate Padovani said the court had taken into consideration the defendant’s young age and his lack of experience as well as the boy’s worries that his parents would be angry at him for what he had done.

She jailed him for five months suspended for a year and disqualified him from driving for a period of two years.

Police Inspector Kevin Farrugia prosecuted.