The widow of a man who was killed in a road accident said that the several court and police failures she experienced since the death of her husband ultimately led to the acquittal of the accused in the case.

Moira Vassallo’s husband, Mark, died five days after the motorcycle he was riding in slow moving traffic in Pieta towards Valletta, on 22 August 2018, was hit from behind by a car being driven by a young man.

Today, 27 August, marks five years since Mark died in hospital, having succumbed to severe internal injuries. He was 53.

The magisterial inquiry into the case recommended that the young man, who had been driving behind Mark, should be charged with involuntarily causing his death through negligent driving.

But due to a series of mistakes, the accused “was acquitted as if he killed a fly” in May 2022, Moira said.

Moira, an actress of Ipokriti and F’Bahar Wiehed fame, said that the court had not been notified that the family wanted to be part of the proceedings and in turn the family had not been told when sittings were taking place.

She said that consequently the family did not show up to any of the sittings and was not informed on what was going on, but rather, Moira had been assured that court proceedings take “very long”.

Moreover, the police chargesheet which listed details about the accident were filled in incorrectly, she said.

The model of the car was listed as a Volkswagen, when in fact, it was a Peugeot. The number plate was registered wrong and the police wrote that the accident happened at 1.30am in Triq Dun Karm, Msida, when in fact it happened at 7.30am in Triq ix-Xatt, Pietà.

Moira also said that she was informed by the police that it could not take action on the police officer who made these mistakes, as apparently, she had “left the Force”.

The results of the magisterial inquiry in the procès-verbal should have also been submitted to court for the case, but the court registrar did not submit a copy of the report. Therefore, the report of the inquiry never reached the magistrate overseeing the case, Moira said.

Additionally, the statement that the accused gave to police when they arrived on the scene of the accident was deemed null and void by the court, because the police had failed to inform him of his legal rights.

“These mistakes could not be fixed,” Moira said, as the chargesheet had been filled in incorrectly and the procès-verbal was not presented to court before the deadline.

Moira said that although the family can make an appeal, the outcome of the case would turn out the same, due to the series of “major shortcomings” from the authorities.

Moira questioned why nobody checked the chargesheet and its data before it was presented to court and said that it seemed as if a door had been opened to allow abuses to happen.

“Will there be more cases handled like this? If mistakes are made, somebody should take responsibility. That is what I want, that they come to me, tell me that they took action and made sure that these failures won’t happen again,” Moira said.

She said that she does not want vindication, as it will not bring Mark back, but her wish is for people to not go through the “huge injustice” that her family went through.

“I never expected that the culprit would go to prison, two wrongs do not make a right. It was an accident, and it can happen. Unfortunately, (people found guilty) are normally given suspended sentences and have their licence revoked. But he was acquitted as if he killed a fly. That is something I do not want anyone to experience,” Moira said.

She said that nobody gave her an explanation as to how, and why the “banal” mistakes on the botched chargesheet were made, and she often wonders if this was done on purpose, as all the facts were incorrect.

“The culprit was taken to court, he was acquitted due to the mistakes, the procès-verbal was not submitted and we were not there. I have been told that the magistrate had also commented as to why the family was not present,” Moira said.

A note of appeal to the court’s acquittal was submitted to the Attorney General’s Office by the police, to consider reopening the case and restart criminal proceedings with a new, error-free chargesheet.

Moira said that the AG refused, with no explanation as to why. The case cannot be reopened now, Moira said.

She said that the criminal proceedings against the accused took three years to be completed. There should not be such a huge delay in court.

“There is no humanity. I feel that for the authorities, the court and the police, we are an ID number, not people,” she continued.

Moira also said that she wished for some type of organisation which provides support to the family of the victims, as well as legal advice and information about procedures, as a grieving person would not be in the right frame of mind to think thoroughly about these things, especially soon after a tragedy occurs.

“All I wish is that nobody else experiences this and that there is a solid structure which reaches out first, and helps these people,” she said.

“The family should automatically be notified on proceedings by the courts directly and not through a lawyer. These things need to change; there needs to be more humanity with the family (of any victim),” Moira continued.

Moira said that there should also be more road awareness and that the country is not doing enough, even with the recently increased fines.

“I remember, in the past, when the seat belt law came into force, they bombarded the public with this particular advertisement, which is still mentioned today by people my age,” Moira said, calling for more of this kind of awareness.

She said that people should not be on their phones while driving nor should they be smoking, drinking, listening to loud music, as these are all distractions.

Moira said that nobody came to explain to her what had happened, and only one person from the Police had apologised, the inspector who took over after the mess left by the botched chargesheet.

“If you’re in the wrong, come to me and explain, and apologise if possible. Assure me that you will do everything so that these things do not happen again,” Moira said.

“We have become a cold nation, which is a pity,” she continued.

“I do not want anyone to experience this. Five years later and I miss his contagious laugh, where you could not help but laugh with him, rather than at the joke he was telling and laughing about at the same time,” Moira said.