A young driver who caused the death of his 18-year-old girlfriend when he was drunk was yesterday fined €6,600 and banned from driving for three years.

The court must make sure that the accused really understands that his behaviour was completely irresponsible

The responsibility for the accident was placed squarely on the shoulders of 24-year-old Clint Xuereb whose “dangerous, careless and negligent” driving led to the death of Yana Xerri, Magistrate Doreen Clarke said.

Mr Xuereb had picked up the young woman at about midnight and went to Paceville where they remained until about 4am.

The accident occurred about 30 minutes later on the Coast Road on November 27, 2010.

Driving at speed, he lost control of the car, slammed on the brakes, hit a low wall and mowed down a signpost before the vehicle flew through the air onto the rocks below the road and flipped over.

Neither of them wore seat belts and they were thrown out of the car. Mr Xuereb escaped with lacerations but Ms Xerri died on the spot.

In evaluating the evidence, Magistrate Clarke said there were 66-metre-long brake marks before the car hit the wall. He had 51 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood when tested four and a half hours after the accident. The legal limit was 35 micrograms.

She noted that the trail of damage pointed to the fact that he was travelling far faster than he said he was and calculations indicated that he was speeding at no less than 106 kilometres an hour.

The magistrate said that while Mr Xuereb had claimed it was a very humid night, a meteorological expert testified that it was not particularly humid on the day. Yet, even if the court had to accept the account of the accused then he should have been driving much slower, the magistrate said.

The fact that the victim was not wearing a seat belt and that the wall was not high enough could not be considered as contributing factors because the speed was so excessive that the result would still have been “disastrous”, she said. The two factors only assumed some importance when considering punishment, the magistrate added.

In handing down judgment, she said that “the court is aware that nothing could make up for the loss of someone’s life but the court must, through the punishment meted out, make sure that the accused really understands that his behaviour was completely irresponsible... He would also have to understand that a car is as lethal as a gun”.

The magistrate said she felt that an effective jail term was not appropriate and that a heavy fine and a long driving ban would teach Mr Xuereb a lesson.

He was also found guilty of breaching the conditions of a previous release when he was placed on probation for simple possession of cannabis.