Teenager guilty of manslaughter after tragic joyride

A 17-year-old youth, who took his father's car at 2 a.m. for a joyride that ended in tragedy with the death of one of his friends, was yesterday given a two-year jail term suspended for three years.

He was also fined Lm75 and disqualified from having a driving licence for a year when he turns 18.

The youth, whose name cannot be published by court order because he was still 16 at the time the accident took place, was charged with nine offences, the most serious of which was that of causing the death of Jake Cassar, 16, through negligent and reckless driving on May 23, 2003.

The youth was also charged with injuring Nicholas Scicluna, damaging his father's Suzuki Samurai, taking the car without his father's consent, driving without a driving licence and insurance cover, driving recklessly and at an excessive speed and damaging a crash barrier to the detriment of the government.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano said that from evidence given in court it resulted that on May 23, 2003, the youth switched off his parents' mobile phones and put the phones off the hook and blocked the door chime so that they would not realise he went out. He then took his father's Suzuki Samurai, which he started after pushing it away from his parents' home, so that they would not hear him, and drove towards the Luxol Ground.

Scicluna and Cassar were with him in the vehicle. The latter was sitting in the back and was not wearing a seatbelt.

When the car was being driven on Regional Road in the direction of Msida, the driver lost control, stepped on the brakes, skidded and hit a crash barrier, which was uprooted. The car then veered onto the other side of the road.

The court noted there were brake marks some 75 metres away from the first point of impact and that the car's spare wheel had been dislodged on impact.

When the accused and Scicluna got out of the car, they looked for Cassar and saw him under a crash barrier. The accused tried to stem the blood flow from his friend's head with his hands. The youth died in the ambulance as he was being taken to hospital. He died of a fractured skull and brain laceration.

Scicluna suffered minor abrasions and a bruise to his head.

The court noted that there was no doubt that the youth was driving and the fact that the victim was not wearing a seat belt was not a line of defence he could use.

The court found him guilty of causing Cassar's death through negligence and of driving without a licence and insurance cover. He was also found guilty of damaging the crash barrier.

As his father did not file any reports, the teenager was acquitted of taking the car without his consent. He was also acquitted of driving at an excessive speed, as this was a contravention and he had to be notified of his arraignment within three months of when the offence took place.

The court took into consideration the fact that such a serious tragedy would remain imprinted in the teenager's mind and no civil agreement could remove this. The court also noted the youth's clean criminal record and that he was still a minor when the incident took place.

Dr Joseph Giglio appeared for the teenager.

Police Inspector Mario Tonna prosecuted.