A young man who took the wheel for his friend who was feeling sleepy and was then involved in a fatal accident was acquitted of the charges brought against him except that of driving without an insurance policy. He told the inquiring magistrate he did not know if he was the driver.

He was fined €2,300 and had his licence suspended for a year. The accident happened 10 and a half years ago on the coast road.

John Pierre Farrugia, 31 of Naxxar, was acquitted of causing the death of Joseph Stephen Gabriel, and of slightly injuring Ioulia Sadtchikova, Clive Ellul and Noel Busuttil. Magistrate Audrey Demicoli also acquitted him of damaging another car, and of driving dangerously, at an excessive speed, and on the wrong side of the road. Farrugia was himself seriously injured.

The accident involved a Seat Ibiza driven by Clive Ellul Hawthorn, who had Sadtchikova as passenger, and the car Farrugia was driving, with Joseph Stephen Gabriel as passenger on the front, and Noel Busuttil sitting at the back.

According to the magisterial inquiry Farrugia said he did not know whether it was he who was driving the car, but Noel Busuttil confirmed that it was.

Gabriel was found caught in the front seat and had to be brought out by Civil Protection staff. It was Busuttil who was driving originally but he felt tired, Farrugia took over for him, and Busuttil fell asleep. Busuttil said that as a result of this he knew nothing about the dynamics of the accident.

Court expert Richard Aquilina had found the car in the middle of the road and the Seat Ibiza on the other side of the road, turned on its right side. The Ibiza was badly damaged in the front, which was crushed in, and the damage was mainly on the front left. There was no damage at the back.

Traffic expert Joseph Micallef Stafrace reported that the carriageway showed scratches and deep indentations, with signs of a turning along the road towards St Julians from Bahar ic-Caqghaq, much debris on the median line, and broken glass in three heaps on the road, and another heap on the back right side of the car.

Magistrate Demicoli said there were reasonable doubts about which of the two cars in the collision was being driven on the wrong side of the road before there was the impact. As a result the doubt should go in favour of Farrugia because the court could not find him criminally responsible for the accident.

Superintendent Martin Sammut prosecuted.