Compensation given to owners after hire car was seized by police

A court today awarded €93,000 to the owners of a hire car which was seized by the police as part of an investigation, depriving them of earnings through no fault of their own.

The court was told that the car, a Toyota, had been leased to Francis Formosa and was seized by the police in February 2004 on suspicion that it was being used for the transport of contraband cigarettes.

Its owners, Francis Xuereb and FX Garage Ltd told the Civil Court that they they had been deprived of the use of their car as a result of Mr Formosa's actions. They therefore asked the court to condemn Mr Formosa to pay them damages including loss of income.

Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo noted that Mr Formosa had not contested the court case. It resulted that the car had not been released by the police as the criminal proceedings against Mr Formosa had not ended.

As a result, the car's owners had suffered loss of income as the car could not be used. Mr Formosa was responsible for these damages.

The court calculated that the loss of income amounted to €15,000 per year. Furthermore, the car would now valued at €3,000.

Mr Formosa was therefore ordered to pay plaintiffs €93,000