The driver of a Jaguar S type who caused the death of a third party while racing his friend on a public road has been given a suspended sentence and placed under a supervision order to get help to overcome the accident-induced trauma.

Ayrton D’Amato Quintano, then a 19-year-old delivery man from Ħamrun, had been racing the BMW driven by his friend Shawn Borg in the afternoon on a public holiday in September 2013 when the fatality occurred.

The two pals had been racing along l-Imgieret Road, Luqa when the accused had overtaken the BMW only to crash into a Mitsubishi driven by Filomeno Bonavia, 55, who was killed on the spot.

Criminal action was instituted against the teenage Jaguar driver who had originally pleaded not guilty to the involuntary homicide of Mr Bonavia, involuntarily causing damage to the victim’s car as well as to a wall, while driving carelessly and at excessive speed.

During the proceedings, the court had heard how the race had started in Luqa, close to the airport before its tragic ending on l-Imgieret Road.

In October 2017 the case was assigned to former magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera who ordered the drawing up of a social inquiry report which would assist in determining the punishment against the accused who had meanwhile registered an admission.

In this report, the probation officer who had been following the accused, suggested that the young man “ought to be actively involved in the work environment so as to continue to lead a stable and structured life whilst registering progress in life”.

The report recommended that it was important for the accused to interact with persons who could provide further support in view of the trauma he had been through.

Taking into consideration the care plan tailored by the Probation Officer, the otherwise clean record sheet of the accused, his tender age at the time of the incident and his cooperation with the prosecution, the court, presided by former magistrate Scerri Herrera during her last sitting before her promotion to Judge, declared the accused guilty and condemned him to a one-year jail term suspended for two years.

The court further placed him under a two-year supervision order and ordered him to pay a €2,000 fine, besides footing the bill for court experts expenses. The accused was also banned from driving for a year.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence counsel.