A police sergeant who was run over in a hit-and-run accident while she was investigating suspicious activity, has been awarded over €5,000 in damages after a court ruled that the driver of the car had not been keeping a proper look out.

The case happened in 1998 when PS Carmen Zammit was checking a burglar alarm that was ringing in Hompesch Road, Fgura. As she was crossing the road to return to her police car, she was run over by a car driven by Jason Delia, who did not stop.

Mr Justice Silvio Meli pointed out that it resulted from the evidence that the road was well lit and that there was no other traffic. Mr Delia had eight persons in his car, which meant that he was carrying twice the number of passengers he ought to have.

It further resulted that Mr Delia and his passengers were returning home after going out for evening entertainment in the course of which he had drunk eight bottles of beer.

Mr Delia, said the court, had failed to keep a proper look out and had been drinking. PS Zammit, on the other hand, had been injured while carrying out her duties.

The court limited the award of damages to the sum of money that PS Zammit had lost when she had had to stop working for six months. This sum amounted to €5,481. Mr Delia was also ordered to pay interest.