A pickup truck driver whose arm was permanently injured in a traffic collision in Gozo has been awarded €7,000 in a civil suit for damages. 

But the crash victim might find it hard to collect the money awarded to him, with the reckless driver who caused the crash having fled the country without a trace. 

John Debrincat had been driving his Toyota Hilux in the direction of Nadur, Gozo on October 20, 2014 when, at the roundabout on Triq San Anard, Victoria, a Peugeot driven by Russian-national Alcksey Osupov, had crashed into his vehicle after ignoring a stop sign.

His Toyota pickup flipped over as a result of the collision, with Mr Debrincat ending up with his arm trapped between the truck’s door and the road surface.

His daughter was in the passenger seat, and ended up suspended by her seatbelt in the overturned truck.

Mr Debrincat recalled how his efforts to unlatch the seatbelt with his left hand had been unsuccessful, while the use of his other arm was impossible “because it was too painful.”

The crash injury left him with a persistent lack of grip in his right arm, which resulted in a 14 per cent permanent disability as certified by medical experts.

The Court in Gozo, presided over by Magistrate Joanne Vella Cuschieri, concluded that the evidence showed that the Peugeot driver had failed to keep a proper lookout before venturing from the stop sign, barging into the truck and thereby causing the collision.

Delivering judgment in the absence of Mr Osupov, who had since absconded from the island, the court concluded that the respondent had been solely responsible for the accident and was therefore to bear the damages which were calculated at €7300.

Mr Osupov was represented in the proceedings by Dr Kevin Mompalao as court-appointed curator.