A British national was jailed for two years suspended for two after he was found guilty of, through negligence and carelessness, causing the death of a diver while riding a hired jet ski in October 2001.

David Rigglesford, who was 23 at the time of the incident, was found guilty of the involuntary homicide of Christian Curmi from Mellieha, 29, who was snorkelling wearing a wet suit and goggles around one kilometre from the area known as Tunny Net.

The victim, who was married, had a two-year-old son and a two-month-old daughter who had been baptised just one week before the incident.

Handing down his judgement, Magistrate Joe Cassar said that although some court experts concluded that the diver did not have all the equipment required for snorkelling, the main blame for Mr Curmi’s death had to be borne by Rigglesford “who acted imprudently, carelessly, unskilfully and in violation of the rules he had signed to observe (when he rented the Yamaha 700 jet ski)”.

The court continued that his behaviour was regarded as “reckless” and he drove “at high speed in a prohibited area, with full knowledge that there was a diver nearby. He did not keep a proper lookout. This conduct was the main cause of death of Mr Curmi and the court, therefore, finds the accused guilty as charged.”

In his judgement, Magistrate Cassar said that the court did not agree with the conclusions of one of the court experts who said that Mr Curmi was “solely responsible for his death because he was not using a recognisable divers’ buoy in an area full of buoys and other signals.”

Magistrate Cassar said it was Rigglesford’s first visit to Malta and it was the first time he had used a jet ski. He said that in view of this situation, the accused had to “behave with extreme care”.

In the judgement, the court also quoted from the testimony of Prof. Marie Therese Camilleri who testified that Mr Curmi suffered a fracture to his skull but added that the immediate cause of death was drowning.

“The injuries to the head were not so grievous to cause death. What probably happened was that he got a blow and lost consciousness and he just fell to the bottom and drowned. Had he been pulled out of the water immediately, probably he would not have died,” she said.

In view of the evidence, Magistrate Cassar jailed Rigglesford for two years suspended for another two years.

Police Superintendent Pio Pisani prosecuted. Dr Stefano Filletti appeared for the accused while Dr Jason Azzopardi and Dr Kris Busietta appeared as parte civile for the Curmi family.