A man was yesterday fined €3,000 and banned from driving for a year after knocking down a 12-year-old boy on a zebra crossing just over two years ago in what the court described as an "avoidable" accident.

The boy remained in coma for a few days and in intensive care for three weeks after the accident and now has learning and memory difficulties as a result of the injuries sustained.

Court experts established that Emmanuel Schembri was driving his Isuzu pick-up at 50 kilometres per hour when he hit Carl Falzon in Dawret Street, Għaxaq on November 6, 2006 at about 6.30 p.m.

On impact, the boy first hit the windscreen and was then flung for a distance of about 25 metres.

Mr Schembri, who had been accompanied by his 14-year-old son, insisted that the traffic lights were green at the moment of the accident and that his attention was focused on the lights.

The victim told the court that he could not remember anything about the accident. He would have done what he usually did, which was to press the button and wait for the lights to turn red.

The court also heard the testimony of Mr Schembri's son, Stephen, who said all he could remember was that he saw a green light. After that he closed his eyes and did not know what happened next.

Photographs taken by court experts showed that the zebra crossing was well-lit at that time of the evening when the accident happened.

Medical doctor Mario Scerri testified that the victim left hospital with a neurological deficit and doctor Dorianne Soler said the boy now suffered from learning and memory problems as well as reading difficulties.

In her judgment, Magistrate Doreen Clarke took into consideration the fact that Mr Schembri was travelling at the maximum speed limit allowed by law on that street when he hit the boy.

The accident was avoidable had Mr Schembri kept a proper lookout in order to see what was "in very plain view".

The court added that although the victim was only 12, he was 147 centimetres tall and was already in the middle of the road. But Mr Schembri was not aware of what was going on in front of him because, as he himself had testified, he was concentrating on the green lights.

The court had serious doubts about whether his son's version of events was credible but gave the benefit of the doubt to the son who was the only other person who witnessed the accident.

Ruling that Mr Schembri was not keeping a proper lookout at the time, the court fined him €3,000 and banned him from driving for one year.

Police Inspector Joseph Agius prosecuted.

Lawyers Joseph Mifsud and John Bonello appeared for Mr Schembri.