When Archbishop Paul Cremona chanced upon a bad car accident in Mdina last year, he stopped to help but left after being assured everything was fine.

Little did he know that a 67-year-old man from Quebec, Jean Guy Legendre, 67, had been seriously hurt and that his wife Renèe Pelland was going to die as a result of her injuries.

The couple was driving a Chevrolet Kalos in Triq l-Infetti, below Mdina’s walls, when they were involved in a collision with a BMW Z3 sports car driven by Clayton James Fenech, 26, who was injured. Mr Fenech’s friend, Mark Camilleri, was a passenger. A third car, a Toyota Vitz, driven by Paulina Buhagiar, 55, crashed into the two cars after the initial impact, injuring the woman.

Ms Buhagiar’s passengers were her husband, Anthony, 60, and their four-year-old grandson.

Mr Legendre is charged with the involuntary homicide of his wife, seriously injuring the other two drivers and damaging the BMW, while Mr Fenech is accused of similar charges before another magistrate.

Lawyer Adrian Muscat Azzopardi was first on the scene and represented Mr Fenech earlier in the case. Taking the witness stand, he said as Mgr Cremona arrived and stopped to offer assistance, he heard someone telling him that everything was fine. At that point Ms Pelland was sitting on a wall while people spoke to her and she seemed fine, as did her husband who was in shock, Mr Fenech said.

He added that it was only much later that it became clear their injuries were very serious.

During cross examination, lawyer Stefano Filletti took Dr Muscat Azzopardi to task over his actions that day, accusing him of failing to declare to the court experts that he was not only a lawyer appearing for his friend but also a potential witness. Dr Muscat Azzopardi denied the allegations and said that he took pictures, offered them to the police, told officers at the scene he was the first there, but was not contacted by the police later.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi is now appearing for Mr Fenech.