Negligent driving being punished too lightly (1)

I fully agree with the mother who lost a 17-year-old daughter in the Mrieħel bypass double road fatality (Suspended Sentence "Disgraceful", December 11). I know that a heftier sentence would not have brought her daughter back but it could and should serve as a deterrent to those who abuse the law. For some reason the magistrate found the driver who caused the death of the two girls guilty. Was the magistrate enforcing the law?

I am saying this because I was involved in a horrific traffic accident earlier this year. After more than six months the driver, who was evidently drunk - and the police know about this - was brought to court. He was driving at about 120 km/hr on the wrong side of the road.

The traffic on the right side of the road was at a standstill being a Sunday evening. He drove head on into a pick-up, rebounded on our car, flew over our car and landed on two others in front of us. Three of the cars involved were declared a total loss and I was rushed to hospital with a gash on my head which needed nine stitches.

On the day of the hearing the police called seven witnesses including me to give evidence. For some unknown reason the magistrate did not ask any of these witnesses to testify and in 45 seconds, yes 45 seconds, the case was closed. The punishment: A suspended car licence for two weeks and a fine of €70. Does anyone call this justice? Had the drunk driver's car landed on ours instead of flying over, he would have killed the two occupants.

Something is wrong somewhere. Either the police are not preparing these cases diligently or the courts are rushing through these cases to clear their backlog. In my opinion a serious case like this should not have taken over six months for the culprit to be brought to court. And finally, why are witnesses called to testify by the police and then ignored by the magistrate?

Many of them had to take a day off work or left their business unattended to obey the police order. What would have happened had the magistrate called for a witness who did not attend? Why didn't the magistrate consider the damage of about €90,000 this drunken driver caused?

I have my doubts whether the magistrate even knew that the driver who was being charged was drunk.

I was present in the courtroom when sentence was delivered and the police high official present never intervened.