A motorcyclist was yesterday handed a suspended jail term after he was found guilty of the involuntary homicide of his 16-year-old friend, who was a pillion rider in an accident in Gozo in December 2006.

Julian Sultana, 21, who was 17 at the time, was driving at an excessive speed near the Ta’ Frenċ restaurant in the direction of Xagħra when he tried to avoid a number of reeds which were poking out of a fence.

He lost control of the bike, on which Joseph Xerri was riding pillion, and ploughed into a Pajero jeep coming in the opposite direction, driven by a man coincidently named Joseph Xerri. All three men were from Xagħra.

Mr Sultana was driving without a licence and subsequently without any insurance cover.

The young men suffered serious injuries while the jeep driver escaped with slight injured. Mr Xerri died a few days later from a fractured skull.

This latest judgment follows another in which the parents of Mr Sultana were ordered to pay €131,506 in damages to the family of their son’s friend.

Magistrate Edwina Grima said that from various testimonies it emerged that the impact was very great and the bike was broken into many parts with the engine ending up in a field.

The magistrate said she took into consideration the fact that Mr Sultana was still a minor in the eyes of the law, had a clean police record and had paid damages following the civil judgment.

On the other hand, he was driving dangerously, and because of this, Mr Xerri lost his life. However, a price could not be put on human life and because of this every driver was responsible for their actions, she said.

She handed down a six month jail term suspended for one year and also banned him from driving for one year.