2There was a deafening silence in the car when an 18-year-old driver and his 16-year-old passenger, both in shock, realised they had just run over 77-year-old Elizabeth Tucknutt Whilems, who died in the hit-and-run, a court heard yesterday.

Elisa Panzavecchia, a former girlfriend of Mel Spiteri of Birkirkara, who stands charged with involuntary homicide, said they were travelling at speed when the accident happened on June 26 at about 11 p.m. in Qawra.

After the impact, they were both shocked and remained silent, not uttering a word until they got back to his garage about half-an-hour later, Ms Panzavecchia said, adding it was the first time she was in the car with the accused driving but she had been inside it before when Mr Spiteri’s father, Victor, had given her lifts home.

She could recall seeing two groups of people crossing the road. The first got to the other side when the car was 20 to 30 meters away but the second group stopped in the middle of the road and a lady moved forward. The impact occurred at that point, she said.

Earlier in the evening, they were at a casual diner with friends and when they left she realised she had forgotten her handbag. Once they reached the garage, she called them to bring it to her and a friend of the accused, 20-year-old Ryan Micallef, turned up. Noticing the car with a shattered windscreen, damage to the bonnet and a broken head lamp, Mr Micallef asked what had happened.

The witness said at first they told him they had crashed into a wall and then Mr Micallef caught on to what had happened because he had heard about an ugly accident in front of the Qawra Palace Hotel. Mr Micallef told the accused he should dump the car and so they did, Ms Panzavecchia said.

Mr Micallef testified that when he went to the garage, the accused was very worried and kept on repeating: “What shall I tell my father?”

The witness said he suggested they dump the car and say it had been stolen. They drove off and abandoned the vehicle near Vibes nightclub but had to return shortly afterwards because the accused forgot his mobile phone inside.

At this point, Mr Micallef informed the court he was feeling ill and needed to sit down. Magistrate Miriam Hayman asked the public to leave the court room and an ambulance crew arrived minutes later.

Earlier in the sitting, defence lawyer Franco Debono noted that since the magisterial inquiry report into the incident had not yet arrived from the Attorney General’s Office, by law he could not cross-examine witnesses.

In a decree, the court ordered the prosecution to ensure the inquiry report was submitted as soon as possible so that cross examination could take place.

The report was also needed because it seemed that what Ms Panzavecchia and Mr Micallef had told the inquiring magistrate contradicted what they said in court, the magistrate said.

The magistrate refused to grant bail to the accused until the witnesses were cross-examined in the next sitting.