John Pierre Farrugia 32, of St Paul's Bay was today acquitted of having caused the death of Joseph Stephen Gabriel in a head-on crash between two cars on the Coast Road in March 2002.
A court convicted him of driving without insurance and fined him €2,500. He was also banned from driving for 12 months.
However, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli said it was not clear from the evidence who had been driving on the wrong side of the road.
Gabriel, 18, had been a passenger in the car driven by Farrugia which was involved in a crash with a car driven by Clive Ellul Hawthorn.
The accused and two passengers in Hawthorn's car were injured in the crash.