Accused in hit-and-run faces up to six years' jail

Anthony Taliana, the 21-year-old convicted dangerous driver who is now charged with involuntarily killing a cyclist in a hit-and-run incident while driving drunk and without insurance, is facing a maximum of six years in prison.

But people who feel this may be too lenient have started an internet campaign calling for "trash like this" not to be allowed to "run around, showing off and killing people".

An e-mail is doing the rounds with personal photos of Mr Taliana, depicting him as a careless driver and a "killer".

In the photos, lifted from his social networking online profiles on Facebook and Hi5, he is seen smoking, drinking and even sitting next to a mountain of white powder seemingly intended to look like cocaine.

He was also photographed fooling around in a toilet, sprawling himself on the bonnet of his car and waving a political party's flag while standing on the window sill of a car. His Facebook and Hi5 pages have since been removed. His defence lawyer Michael Sciriha said such e-mails could be prejudicial to the case, amounting to "pre-trial publicity" which he disagreed with.

He did not confirm whether or not he would be using this as a defence angle, saying only that he first had to see what evidence was brought against his client.

"Naturally, submissions have to be made at the right place," he said.

He pointed out, however, that there had been various judgments that suggested such activities could jeopardise a person's right to a fair trial.

Dr Sciriha emphasised his sympathy for the victim and his family and said that he respected everyone's opinion, even those who were criticising his client.

The e-mail in question is set up in a Power-Point presentation format and takes cuttings from various newspapers to explain the details of the incident.

Mr Micallef, who had planned to join the Lifecycle challenge, was cycling at 5.15 a.m. along the coast road in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq when he was killed. The police found part of a car and a number plate close to where Mr Micallef died.

Mr Taliana's car, a blue Opel Astra, is known to have suffered extensive damage in the front and has since been impounded by the police, while the driver is currently being held in Corradino prison.

"Send this presentation to everyone you know so that we make our message heard and help clean up our streets," the e-mail says. It also claims that Mr Taliana was well-known by the police as being a dangerous driver and says the authorities were partly to blame for the fact that, three months after his first conviction, he was freely roaming the streets again.

"He should be ashamed of himself, and so should the person who gave him a licence," the e-mail concludes.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com