The full extent of a bad traffic accident on the weekend was laid bare yesterday when a Canadian man was arraigned in connection with a three -car collision that left his own wife fighting for her life.
Additionally, the accident left two people seriously injured, a third with slight injuries and, the accused, Jean Guy Legendre, 67, from Quebec, with a broken arm and leg.
Mr Legendre told the court in a French accent that he was the chairman of a company specialising in quality control. He was on holiday in Malta with his wife, 63-year-old Renèe Pelland, and was driving down Triq l-Infetti, situated opposite Mdina and considered part of the silent city, when the accident happened on Saturday.
The Chevrolet Kalos he was driving crashed into a BMW Z3 sports car, driven by 26-year-old Clayton James Fenech.
He and his passenger, Mark Camillieri from Sliema, were on their way to Saqqajja Hill.
A third car, a Toyota Vitz, driven by Paulina Buhagiar, 55, also crashed with the two cars moments after the initial impact. In Ms Buhagiar’s car were her husband, Anthony, 60, and their four-year-old grandson, the police said.
Mr Legendre, who sat in the dock holding a pair of crutches, with his left hand, his right arm and leg in plaster, denied seriously injuring three people, including his wife, slightly injuring a fourth and damaging the rented car and the BMW. He also denied driving dangerously. Defence lawyer Stefano Filletti told the court that “the truth had yet to come out” and that his client was in no way responsible for the accident.
“It would be inhumane for a man whose wife is in intensive care, about to die, to be kept in prison, especially given the fact that he wants to spend every moment with her”, the lawyer said.
He pointed out that there was no fear that he would leave the island because of his wife’s condition and that “his main problem was her condition and not the criminal proceedings.”
Furthermore, the accused himself was seriously injured and needed to rest besides being racked with guilt, he said.
Magistrate Gabriella Vella granted Mr Legendre bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000 and a deposit of €2,000, provided that he lived at his son’s house in St Julians.