A 22-year-old was jailed for three years yesterday, and had his driving licence suspended for five years, after he was found guilty of the manslaughter of five teenagers when the van he was driving slammed into a wall in Zebbug in October 2005.

Antoine Cassar was found guilty of involuntarily causing the deaths of 13-year-old David Sacco, 16-year-olds Fabio Magro, and Marco Abdilla, Oswaldo Emanuel Vella and Christian Camilleri, all of whom were 17 years old.

The accident occurred early in the morning of 1 October 2005.

The court heard how the five teenagers lost their lives and a sixth one – Anthony Aquilina – was seriously injured, in the accident on the Zebbug road, which had just been asphalted.

In his testimony in court during the case, Cassar said he was aware that the vehicle he was driving had a commercial licence and was therefore only licensed to carry the driver and one passenger. However, he said, he only agreed to give the boys a lift home because he felt he was doing them a favour.

He said that, as he was driving, he recalled overtaking a vehicle that was being driven in the fast lane and then saw a bright light. He said this was the last thing he remembered of the incident. Cassar said that he recalled driving fast, but said he could not remember whether one of his passengers had asked him to slow down.

Handing down her judgement, magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera said that it was evident – and the court had absolutely no doubt – that the accident occurred because the accused was driving at excessive speed.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera said she did not agree with the parte civile lawyer, who had argued that Cassar should be jailed for 12 years because he was accused of committing five crimes and not merely one.

Dr Jason Azzopardi had quoted jurisprudence which ruled that someone 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 had 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.

But magistrate Scerri Herrera said the court did not agree with this argument because of the interpretation of the law in question.

She therefore found Cassar guilty of all the charges brought against him and sentenced him to a total of three years in jail. She also prohibited him from having or obtaining a driving licence for five years and ordered him to pay Lm1,343 in court expenses related to the appointment of court experts.

Police Superintendents Lawrence Cutajar and Raymond D’Anastas prosecuted. Dr Simon Micallef Stafrace, Dr Joseph Zammit MacKeon and Dr Pierre Lofaro appeared for Cassar. Dr Jason Azzopardi, Dr Kris Busietta, Dr Michael Tanti Dougall and Dr Jacqueline Tanti Dougall appeared in parte civile for the victims.