A man was this morning cleared of seriously injuring a 54-year-old in a traffic accident as his version of events was more credible than that of the pedestrian.

Albert Zammit, 54, claimed he was crossing Triq ix-Xatt, Pieta’ on the zebra crossing in July 2004 when all of the sudden he was hit by a Volvo driven by 48-year-old Marcellino Ellul.

He suffered a broken arm and leg and also had to have his spleen removed.

Mr Zammit told the court his driver had been waiting for him by the bus stop and before crossing he pushed the buttons for the lights to change, to cross safely.

But Mr Ellul blamed Mr Zammit for the accident saying he had jumped over a crash barrier, crossed the road, and as he got to the inner lane suddenly ran back and into the car.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli said that the area where broken glass and a shoe belonging to the victim were found was about 90 meters away from the zebra crossing.

This indicated that the victim could have never have been on the zebra crossing at the time of accident.

Magistrate Demicoli found Mr Ellul not guilty of seriously injuring the victim while driving dangerously and said that this accident was the sole cause of a careless pedestrian.