The government is awaiting the outcome of a magisterial inquiry into October’s Paqpaqli għall-Istrina car show incident, in which 28 people were injured, the Times of Malta has learnt.

Asked about the inquiry being conducted by Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry said yesterday: “We are still awaiting the outcome.”

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici earlier this month published the conclusions of an inquiry into an incident at the Plus One entertainment venue in Paceville, which happened more than a month after the Paqpaqli incident.

The report of a magisterial inquiry must be submitted within 60 days

According to the Criminal Code, the report of a magisterial inquiry has to be submitted to the Attorney General within 60 days. In the case of a delay, the law stipulates that “the magistrate shall draw up a report stating the reason for the delay and this report shall be transmitted by the magistrate to the Attorney General not later than three working days from the lapse of the 60 days”.

The Attorney General’s office was asked about the state of play of the Paqpaqli inquiry, whether it had been informed of any delays and, if so, what caused them. However, no replies were forthcoming at the time of writing. The inquiry started October 4 following an incident in which a Porsche 918 driven by a British millionaire spun out of control and crashed into a crowd of spectators during a car show organised in aid of the Malta Community Chest Fund.

Some of the injured persons sustained grievous injuries and had to spend several weeks in hospital.

A week after the incident, the driver, Paul Bailey, who was also hosptalised, returned to the UK after the inquiring magistrate heard his evidence.