Defence lawyers on Tuesday questioned why two Porsche driving instructors who had designed the track layout in the 2015 Paqpaqli motorshow had not been arraigned following the supercar crash which seriously injured 23 spectators.

The questions were raised as a court continued to hear the compilation of evidence against the driver of the car, Paul Bailey, and members of the core committee which had organised the event. 

Lawyer Stefano Filletti, in cross-examining Superintendent Josric Mifsud, pressed the matter.

“Why were Mr Dineef and Mr Bangma, two Porsche instructors who designed the track, excluded from prosecution?”  he asked.

Supt. Mifsud said that the magisterial inquiry had not highlighted those two individuals.

Dr Filletti quoted Mr Dineef as not only confirming that the track was designed by them but that they knew that the barriers in place would not have protected spectators in the event of a crash. 

“Is this not negligence?” Dr Filletti queried.

Earlier in the sitting, court expert Martin Bajada testified how he had extracted data from the Porsche Spyder after the crash.

Codes from the vehicle's ECU indicated various functions and errors, he said.

This data was made available to the inquiring magistrate and court experts in the course of the magisterial inquiry.

READ: Paqpaqli crash: Supercar was being driven without traction control

Superintendent Josric Mifsud explained how he had coordinated the transfer of the Porsche, that was first loaded onto a police truck and then moved to Muscat Motors in Gżira.

In further cross-examination by lawyer Giannella De Marco, Supt. Mifsud confirmed that the Porsche was parked at Muscat Motors, cordoned off from other vehicles. Moreover, a police watch had been placed to ensure that the vehicle would not be touched or tampered with.

Superintendent Josric Mifsud and Inspectors Silvio Magro and Hubert Cini are prosecuting.

Lawyers Giannella de Marco and Stephen Tonna Lowell are counsel to Mr Bailey.

Lawyer Joseph Giglio is counsel to Mr Darmanin.

The other members of the organising committee are being represented by lawyer Stefano Filletti, Arthur Azzopardi, Michael Sciriha, Raphael Fenech Adami and Albert Zerafa.

Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia, Roberto Montalto, Michael Grech, Shazoo Ghaznavi, Alessia Zammit Mackeon and Reuben Farrugia are among the lawyers appearing for the victims, who have however dropped their own cases for compensation after reaching a settlement for an undisclosed sum.

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