Maximilian Ciantar, 20, who is charged with seriously injuring 11-year-old twin sisters in a hit-and-run incident in Attard, had taken heroin in the morning and was driving without a licence or insurance, a court was told yesterday.

Mr Ciantar, of Marsa, yesterday pleaded not guilty to seriously injuring Sarah Falzon and her sister Rebecca, who remains in intensive care. Magistrate Miriam Hayman remanded him in custody.

The incident took place on Ħal-Warda Street last Wednesday at 7.15 p.m. when the twins, who had just finished Christian doctrine classes, used a zebra crossing to get to the other side of the road, where their father was waiting to pick them up.

Mr Ciantar rammed into the girls, throwing Rebecca against a car that had stopped to let them cross.

Sources said CCTV footage from a nearby bank shows Sarah attempting to get up to reach her sister, but her broken leg gave way, so she began crawling to reach Rebecca who lay unconscious in the road.

The sources said that Mr Ciantar, who is charged with dangerous driving and speeding, allegedly drove off and even attended to a job he had scheduled to repair a garage door.

Prosecuting Police Inspector Elton Taliana said the accused, who was driving his father's white Peugeot Partner van, had just jumped a red light in Mdina Road, Attard, when he turned the corner at excessive speed and ran over the twins.

"This is a crime against society... Life is unique and this man cannot capriciously be allowed back on the streets," he said, pointing out that Mr Ciantar was a repeat offender.

Insp. Taliana said Mr Ciantar had been convicted of various motoring offences in the past and could not be trusted.