A court has awarded a man injured in a traffic accident in 2004 more than €34,000 in damages.

Mario Mifsud told the court that he had suffered a permanent disability after Roderick Azzopardi crashed into his car while they were both in Mqabba in September 2004. Both men blamed each other for the accident.

But the court found in favour of Mr Mifsud and ruled that Mr Azzopardi was responsible for the crash.

Witnesses testified that Mr Azzopardi was driving his Mercedes at excessive speed and that he had overtaken four cars by crossing a continuous white line.

Mr Mifsud said that Mr Azzopardi, driving at speed, had crashed into the back of his jeep causing the jeep to spin three times. He had been thrown out of his car on to the ground.

After establishing that Mr Mifsud had suffered a permanent disability of five per cent, the court ordered Mr Azzopardi to pay him €34,119.66 in damages.