A 19-year-old driver who crashed into a wall, with the windscreen shattering on impact and a splinter flying into the eyes of his passenger, was fined €3,000 and banned from driving for a year.

Ryan Muscat, from Mellieħa, said that on May 17, 2009 he was driving his Ford Escort at about 50kph up Xemxija Hill towards his hometown when he skidded on water seeping from a building on his left.

According to him, he then hit a wall, causing the windscreen to shatter. A splinter penetrated the left eye of Robert Galea who was with him in the car.

But Magistrate Doreen Clarke found his version of events not very credible, especially after taking into consideration the extent of the damages and the fact that the accident happened when the car was going uphill.

Mr Muscat also knew that the water had been seeping from the building for a long while before the accident and should have taken all the necessary pre­cautions. Moreover, the accident happened 80 metres away from where the water was.

The magistrate said she took into consideration Mr Muscat’s clean police record and the fact that prison would not be the ideal punishment because there were other ways to ensure he learnt his lesson.

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