A route bus driver who tried to run over a cyclist after having almost hit him with his dangerous driving some time before has been jailed for two months. 

Thomas Spagnol, 41, from Zejtun, was jailed after a court heard how he tried to run over the cyclist who told him off for nearly running him over further up the road. 

Mr Spagnol was driving a coach from Schillaci Garage which was contracted to provide public transport services when the bendy buses were taken off the roads, when the incident took place on July 9 last year. 

The court heard Mr Spagnol was driving his coach at high speed as he approached a roundabout in Mosta. He failed to stop at the Stop sign and almost hit cyclist Graham Borg, a triathlon athlete who at the time was training and was cycling towards Burmarrad. 

The cyclist caught up with the bus further down the road. When he tried to speak to the bus driver about the near-miss, Mr Spagnol swerved the bus in his direction, mounting the pavement. The cyclist was unharmed. The court heard there were passenger in the bus at the time of the incident.

Testifying in court, Mr Spagnol admitted to having stopped late when he approached the roundabout, but denied the manoeuvring in the cyclist's direction. He claimed that he had swerved because there was a pothole. Moreover, he said he could not hear the cyclist speaking to him as the doors shut automatically. 

However, the court heard that the coach he was driving does not have an automatic door-shutting mechanism. 

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale was not at all convinced with the version by Mr Spagnol, saying the cyclist's version was more credible. 

He found the bus driver guilty of driving negligently and dangerously and of having been on his mobile while driving. 

The magistrate noted that the incident could have had much more serious consequences and therefore deserved a "severe punishment", saying that "traffic regulations applied to all". 

He found him guilty of failing to stop at a stop sign, breaching the peace and dangerous driving and jailed him for two months. He also suspended his driving license for three months. 

Despite the witness's account that the bus driver swerves his coach in the direction of the cyclist, the prosecution did not charge Mr Spagnol with an attempted injury charge. 

Police Inspector Maria Stella Attard prosecuted while lawyer Victor Bugeja appeared for the accused.