A Frenchman was let off with a suspended sentence and handed a four-month driving ban for causing a traffic accident on Wednesday evening.

25-year-old tourist Bryan Bouhadana, from France, was charged with negligent and dangerous driving and causing serious injuries to another individual in an accident in Birkirkara on Wednesday evening.

This after Bouhadana drove a Peugeot rental car into the wrong lane in Triq Sir Anthony Mamo and crashed into a Volkswagen Golf.

The accident left three people in hospital, including the driver of the Golf – who suffered slight injuries – and one of the four passengers in the car, another 25-year-old man from France, who is in serious condition.

Police inspector Ritienne Gauci said that the injuries to the Frenchman were what prompted the arrest to be made.

Bouhadana pleaded guilty to the charges.

The prosecution said that it was not seeking a jail sentence, while lawyer Brandon Kirk Muscat said that the accused did not intend his actions and that he wished to close this chapter and leave the country to continue with his life.

Magistrate Monica Vella considered the accused’s clean criminal record and his early admission, and therefore handed down a nine-month prison sentence which is suspended for two years, and suspended his driver’s license for four months.