A 17-year-old unlicensed driver from Naxxar was this afternoon charged with killing John Baptiste Azzopardi, 65, when he smashed his father's car into a bus stop where the victim was sitting.

Before Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, the boy who cannot be named by court order since he is still a minor, denied killing the man and seriously injuring another man, Joseph Vella.

He was also charged with stealing his father's car, driving without a licence or insurance cover, taking the car without permission from its owner and driving the car recklessly and negligently.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera quoted various court judgments that liberty was the rule not the exception so she granted him bail against a personal guarantee of €5,000.

No immediate deposit was imposed as the teenager only started working recently. She also ordered him to be indoors between 11pm and 6am.

The teenager's mother told the court that both she and her husband did not want to press charges against their son over the theft of the car.

Police Inspector Edel Mary Camilleri prosecuted while lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Giannella de Marco appeared for the accused.

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