The car which hit and fatally injured cyclist Cliff Micallef on the coast road last July was travelling at 114 km per hour, a court was told this morning.

Court expert Mario Buttigieg said the car’s bumper disintegrated on impact and the steel support behind it was pushed back 2.5cm.

Mr Buttigieg was testifying i the compilation of evidence against Anthony Taliana, 21 of Hamrun, who stands charged with manslaughter.

Earlier, Godwin Sammut, an expert from the Malta National Laboratory, said he had examined a urine sample from Mr Taliana, taken six hours after the incident, and found 98 miligrams per decilitre of alcohol in the sample. That was nine miligrams less than the legal limit, he said, but under cross examination, he explained that an average person lost 15 miligrams per decilitre per hour, depending on his build and what he would have eaten.

M Sammut said he could not determine from the blood samples whether the alcohol had been consumed before or after the incident.

Court expert Mario Buttigieg said that during investigations, another car, an MX5, was found in Mr Taliana’s garage and investigations showed that it had been involved in another incident on December 1, 2007 when a woman was injured. The incident was not reported to the police.

The court directed the police to investigate the incident.

Mr Buttigieg also told the court that Mr Taliana had not been covered by insurance since the car he had been driving was only insured when driven by his father or mother.

Miriam Barbara from the Guard and Warden Service said the speed camera on the coast road had been inoperative since the camera had been transferred to another locality and it was only its shell which remained.