A lawyer who is representing the families of five youngsters who lost their lives following a traffic accident in Zebbug yesterday insisted that the Magistrates’ Court should jail the driver of the car they were in for 12 years because he is accused of committing five crimes and not simply one.

Antoine Cassar is pleading not guilty to involuntarily causing the death of 13-year-old David Sacco, 16-year-old Fabio Magro and Marco Abdilla, Oswaldo Emanuel Vella and Christian Camilleri, both 17 years old.

The traffic accident took place early in the morning of 1 October 2005 when the car he was driving slammed into a wall in Zebbug.

Dr Jason Azzopardi quoted jurisprudence which ruled that a person who is found guilty of causing the death of more than one person, should be given the full punishment for the first victim and half the punishment each for any other victim.

In this case, he said, Mr Cassar should be jailed for four years for one victim and then a further eight years representing half the maximum punishment for each of the other four victims.

He said that although the Magistrates’ Court could only jail a convicted person for up to 10 years, the court can apply a section of the law which states that in extraordinary circumstances, the court may surpass this limit. Dr Azzopardi insisted that this case – involving the death of five youngsters – has to be an exception to the rule in order to reflect the seriousness of the case.

In his submissions, Mr Cassar’s defence lawyer, Dr Simon Micallef Stafrace, made reference to the defendant’s version that he was blinded by a light. He said the prosecution, in order to speed up the investigations, did not investigate what this light was and this should therefore be taken into consideration in order to mitigate the punishment.

Moreover, he said, the court also had to consider that this was an involuntary incident and as much as people who traffic drugs and “commit any other imaginable crime” are given a second chance, even his client, he said, should be given this benefit.

He said the defence is not contesting that Mr Cassar was overspeeding, but mentioned again the light matter which, he said, is an important, determining factor.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera put the case off for judgement.

Police Superintendent Raymond D’Anastasi prosecuted.