Coach driver cleared of Mosta road accident

A coach driver has been cleared of involuntarily causing permanent injuries to a motorist who was hit by the door of the vehicle's luggage compartment almost three years ago.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti cleared Charles Zammit, 50, of Mellieha, of the charge of having, through negligence, caused permanent injuries to Victoria Sciberras who ended up paralysed from the waist down during an incident on March 10, 2003.

The magistrate heard how, on the day of the incident, Mr Zammit was driving a school coach in Mosta on his way to Valletta. As he took a left turning into Independence Avenue he came across a Volkswagen Polo in a parking bay on the left.

Soon after driving past the car, Mr Zammit looked in the coach's mirror and saw that the luggage compartment door was open. When he alighted to investigate he saw Ms Sciberras lying on the ground.

The magistrate also heard that Ms Sciberras did not remember much about the incident which took place at 7 a.m. as she was preparing to go to work.

Magistrate Grixti noted that one would suspect that Mr Zammit may have been driving the coach with the luggage compartment door open. However, evidence suggested this was not the case.

The court heard an expert explain that when the coach's luggage compartment door was opened, this had a system of tensioners that held it down. Strength was needed to pull the door open and, when pulled about 12 inches outwards, the tensioners opened the door themselves until this was parallel to the road.

The magistrate also heard the evidence given by Mario Frendo, an eyewitness who had been driving behind the coach.

"I could see what happened. There was a car parked near the pavement on the left. Close by was a woman. She was standing near the car's door on the driver's side when the coach drove by her.

"I heard the sound of the impact. I stopped immediately and saw the woman lying on the ground. I noticed that the car's door was open and ripped off and the coach's luggage compartment door was open. At no point before the incident did I see the coach's door open," Mr Frendo said.

The magistrate noted that one could come up with various hypotheses as to what had happened that day but, in a criminal case, the court had to be convinced of a man's guilt to the level beyond reasonable doubt.

It did not result that Mr Zammit had been negligent in that he knew that the door was open as he drove the coach and if the door had popped open when he drove past Ms Sciberras then he was surely not to blame.

Police Inspector Paul Bond prosecuted.