The man whose driving ban was controversially reduced from 10 years to six months was yesterday caught by the police at the wheel of a car and arrested.

Maximilian Ciantar had run over and severely injured twin girls, aged 11, as they were stepping out on an Attard zebra crossing in April last year. He was jailed for two years and his driving licence was suspended for 10 but an appeal court last month slashed the driving ban to six months, effective immediately.

At the beginning of this month, the 21-year-old drug addict from Marsa was a free man, having left prison eight months early for good conduct. But he was yet not at liberty to drive as the suspension of his licence still had some months to run.

Yesterday he was picked up by a police mobile squad in a pink Toyota Vitz near the Ħamrun football ground. Police sources said a woman was a passenger in the car he was driving.

The public expressed outrage when the appeal court confirmed Mr Ciantar’s two-year jail term but drastically reduced the driving ban. The girls’ parents called the decision “farcical and an insult to society”,

The first court had noted that Mr Ciantar had already been convicted eight times for various crimes, three of which were driving without a licence and insurance cover. He was found guilty of involuntary grievous bodily harm and driving without insurance or a licence.

The appeal court judge, however, noted that this was the first time he had been found guilty of reckless driving and reduced his driving ban. The law states that in such cases the motorist’s driving licence must be suspended for a minimum of three months but no maximum is specified, meaning the court has discretion.

The girls, who are now 12, are still recovering from their injuries caused by the accident which occurred on the evening of April 28, 2010.

Mr Ciantar hit Sarah Marie and Rebecca Marie Falzon moments after they emerged from a Christian doctrine class. It took him just a few seconds to speed off from the traffic lights on Mdina Road, turn into Ħal Warda Street in Attard and knock the children down.

During the case, Mr Ciantar won €1,000 in compensation for breach of human rights because, although he had been granted bail, the conditions imposed meant he was denied effective release.

He was kept at Mount Carmel Hospital because of his acute drug addiction.