A reckless driver was given a suspended jail term and banned from driving for six months after running into a refugee who had escaped almost certain death in Sierra Leone only to die in Malta in the traffic accident.

The 44-year-old Gozitan, Paul Attard, had pinned Rahman Abdul Kamara against a wall after skidding into him in bad weather conditions, causing massive injuries to ill-fated Mr Kamara while he was waiting for a lift to go to work.

Mr Attard, who on November 11, 2003 was driving his Dodge van through Swieqi at 6.30 a.m., had skidded because of the dew on the road and because it had been raining, a court heard.

Testifying, Mr Attard said that he had just come from Gozo loaded with boxes, dawn was breaking and it was raining.

He added that at the traffic lights in St Andrews he skidded into the wall along which Rahman Abdul Kamara had been walking.

Sounding the horn numerous times to alert Mr Kamara that he was coming towards him, he hit him and pinned him against the wall, Mr Attard said.

Court experts had concluded that the van was in full working order, all the tyres were in roadworthy condition but dew on the road "could cause the van to skid especially if not driving safely and attentively".

The court found Mr Attard guilty of dangerous driving and jailed him for two years suspended for four, revoked his driving licence for six months and fined him €233.

Born in Sierra Leone in 1966 and married to Mary Vandi, Mr Kamara had two children Mustapha, 17, and Hamza, 13.

In 1991, when the All People's Congress Party united with the Revolutionary United Front and turned against the Sierra Leonian People's Party, his father, mother and two siblings were killed.

Mr Kamara managed to escape but could not communicate with his family.

In 1995, his life was again in danger and he jumped onto a boat, finding himself in Malta, where he applied for refugee status.

In 1999, his wife Mary went to Ghana where she met a Maltese nun who told her she knew a man in Malta by the same name, Kamara. The nun helped them get in touch after having no contact for eight years and husband and wife were reunited.

Mary and her younger son arrived in Malta in 2000 while her elder son, Mustapha, who was left behind when his mother left for Ghana, arrived in Malta a year later.

The Emigrants' Commission had paid tribute to Mr Kamara after the accident, with director Mgr Philip Calleja saying that he was at the airport the day when Mr Kamara was reunited with the son he had not seen for 10 years.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.