A teenager whose friend was killed in jet ski accident at St George’s Bay last Wednesday has been granted bail after pleading not guilty to involuntary homicide on Friday.

Gerrit Van der Veen, a 19-year old Dutchman, was arraigned under arrest on Friday morning and charged of having caused the involuntary homicide of 19-year-old Mart de Ruiter, also Dutch, while handling the jet ski under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The two young men were riding separate jet skis on Wednesday when Mr Van der Veen allegedly lost control of his water craft and crashed into Mr de Ruiter, fatally injuring him.

Mr Van der Veen had failed a breathalyser test soon after the incident but insisted he had not consumed any alcohol that morning and had only been drinking the night before.

The teenager pleaded not guilty to the charges, after which his lawyer Josette Sultana, requested bail, pointing out that her client could travel back and forth for every hearing, adding further that Holland was an EU state.

“This was an unfortunate incident”, inspector Leeroy Balzan Engerer declared, observing however that the incident had resulted in a serious offence due to the fact that the young man had been skiing under the influence of drink.

However, so long as stringent conditions were imposed, the prosecution said it would not object to bail.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, upheld the bail request against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €15,000, with a strict obligation to appear for every sitting until the proceedings were concluded.