A 67-year-old Canadian was this morning granted bail against a deposit of €2,000 and a personal guarantee of €10,000 after he pleaded not guilty to seriously injuring three people, including his wife, in a traffic accident last Saturday.

Jean Guy Legendre, a company chairman was also chargedwith slightly injuring a fourth person and damaging his rented car and another.

Mr Legendre was involved in a traffic accident at around noon. He was driving a Chevrolet in which his wife, Renee Telland, was a passenger.

They collided with a BMW and a third car, a Toyota Vitz, collided with the two vehicles.

Defence lawyer Stefano Filletti told the court that this was an unfortunate incident.

He asked for bail pointing out that Mrs Telland was in the Intensive Therapy Unit and expected to pass away shortly. He contested he was in any way responsible of the charges.

Mr Filletti said it would be inhumane to remand him in custody given the state of his wife.

Mr Legendre also had a permanent address in Malta and would not leave the island and his wife here to die alone. Moreover, he also suffered grievous injuries himself.

"His biggest problem is not the criminal proceedings but the condition of his wife".