A man was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment suspended for three years after being found guilty of causing another man’s death by driving negligently.

He was also ordered to pay €3,493.48 in court costs.

Kevin Ellul, 27, of Mosta had run over Emmanuel Formosa, 59, who had been jogging in Durumblat Street, Mosta at around 6.30am, on 20 January, 2008. Mr Formosa died on the spot.

Although found guilty of involuntarily causing the jogger’s death, Mr Ellul was acquitted of drink driving and of a hit-and-run offence.

The accused was on his way home from a night out in Paceville when Mr Formosa was jogging on the carriageway facing oncoming traffic in the direction from Mosta to Attard. Mr Ellul’s vehicle, a Daihatsu, hit the jogger, throwing him into a field some one metre below road level.

No one saw the accident except for the driver who could only remember that while driving, he heard a sound and realised the windscreen had shattered. Other damage to the car was instantly noticeable. He remembered being conscious before hearing the thump, and swerving the car to the right and to the left until it was back in the right carriageway.

He made a u-turn and drove to the point of impact but saw nothing except for debris on the road. On arriving home, he called his father and went back to the scene with torches but again found nothing.

The victim was only found dead some two hours after the accident. Hair and blood samples taken from the car’s windscreen matched the victim’s. Mr Ellul had been out since 11pm the night before and had taken seven drinks in all, five of which consisted in Vodka Red Bull. He also drank a Vodka Sprite and a Heineken but urine tests taken some seven hours after the accident were negative and he could therefore not be convicted of drink-driving. He testified he was driving at around 45 to 50 kilometres per hour, and traffic expert Mario Buttigieg confirmed he had been driving at normal speed.

In passing judgement, Magistrate Edwina Grima took into consideration that the victim had been wearing a black tracksuit when jogging while still dark. Mr Ellul had turned himself over to the police after the accident and could not have assisted the victim because he could not see him as he was thrown into the field. The driver also had a clean police record.

Police Inspectors Daniel Zammit and Therese Sciberras prosecuted while Dr Joseph Giglio represented Mr Ellul.