A mother whose 12-year-old son was injured by a speeding car while he was on the pavement believes a “lenient” sentence sends the wrong message to reckless drivers.
People need to be responsible for their actions – we know speed kills
Marlene Debono is upset that the young bus driver who turned her son’s life upside down will be back on the road in less than a month.
Two weeks ago David Attard, 21, from Qormi admitted to causing serious injury to Ms Debono’s son Reece and slightly injuring his 16-year-old friend, Kurt Scicluna, while driving at excessive speed.
Mr Attard was handed a suspended jail term and banned from driving for one month.
“I would have banned him from driving for life. I know he didn’t mean to hurt my son, but people need to be responsible for their actions – we know speed kills,” she insists.
When contacted, Lawyer Stefano Filletti points out that according to the Motor Vehicle Regulations if a person is caught driving in a negligent or dangerous manner he can be fined as well as having his licence suspended or revoked.
If the driver causes grievous bodily harm, he is liable to up to four years’ imprisonment and/or a fine.
The incident happened on February 4 at about 3.15 p.m. Reece had spent all morning playing football with Luqa St Andrews, and after a haircut headed to a pastizzerija in Qormi with his friend.
He was on the pavement, just two steps away from his lunch, when he heard screeching tyres. Turning round he saw a blue car skidding towards him and could not move out of the way in time. The car clipped his left leg and rammed him against a steel door.
“I thought it was the end of me and that I was going to die. Then I felt my left leg swell,” Reece recalls, as he shifts on a makeshift bed in the living room that has become his refuge in recent days.
The next thing he knew he was being shuttled to Mater Dei Hospital where he underwent two operations – one to amputate his fourth toe.
“At hospital I kept pinching myself in the hope of waking up from the nightmare, but nothing changed,” he says.
The young boy is going to have to miss the remaining term at school because of his injuries, but he is optimistic he will eventually be able to play football again.
“I prefer to be back in school, but I have to wait,” he says, diverting his attention to a computer game.
Reece is the fourth of five siblings and his mother fears he may require future interventions.
“I gave birth to a lively healthy boy and some idiot took that away from me. I wish I could turn back time, but I know I can’t... The accident could have been much worse and the court ruling means a dangerous driver will be back on the road shortly,” Ms Debono says.
“He was given a lenient punishment – he should be banned from driving forever,” she says, adding that police records show the brake marks were 46.7 metres long.