The mother of Johanna Boni, who was killed in a horrific accident in 2016 said her faith in justice has been restored after the truck driver involved in the crash was convicted of the crime on appeal. 

A judge overturned the acquittal of Carmel Cauchi, then 53, the driver of a heavily loaded left-hand drive truck, declaring him responsible for the accident that claimed Boni’s life on January 5, 2016, in Labour Avenue, Naxxar.

Madam Justice Edwina Grima ruled that the evidence was diametrically contrary to the first court’s conclusion.

Cauchi was found guilty of criminal negligence in causing Boni’s death and failing to keep a proper lookout. He was handed a six-month suspended jail term and disqualified from obtaining a driving licence for three months. He was also ordered to pay just over €2,100, representing half the court expenses.

The judgment was welcomed by Boni’s parents, Josephine and Pippo, who said that justice had prevailed.

“Justice prevailed! For once I can say I'm proud to be Maltese! I had lost faith in the Maltese justice but I was proved wrong!,” she told Times of Malta in a first reaction.

She said the appeals court saw the evidence and drew its conclusions on the evidence presented in court, which showed that her daughter had no fault in the accident since she was the most careful driver.

“The driver was given 100 per cent of the fault for claiming Johanna's life, like it should have been in the first place,” she added.

It was not enough that they killed her but they tried shifting the blame onto her

"We are happy that the truth has emerged. It was not enough that they killed her but they tried shifting the blame onto her. And she wasn't here to defend her name so we did it for her. We were never after the pound of flesh. All we wanted was for the truth to emerge and it did," she said. 

The first court, presided over by Magistrate Nadine Lia, had ruled that it was a miscalculated manoeuvre by the motorcyclist when she tried to overtake the heavy vehicle that had contributed to the fatal impact.

However, the appeals court ruled that the first court could have never reached that conclusion based on the evidence presented in court. 

“Based on the evidence produced, the court believes that contrary to what was stated by the first court. [Cauchi] did not maintain the attention required by every driver… especially since he was driving a left-hand drive truck and therefore had to maintain a higher level of attention and diligence,” Madam Justice Grima ruled in her judgment.

This accident could have been completely avoided or had less serious consequences had Cauchi seen Boni had he looked into the side mirror rather than focusing on the road ahead, the court ruled.

An eyewitness recounted seeing the heavy truck moving slowly in the opposite direction, a motorcycle stuck to its front.

“I don’t think he [truck driver] realised he had run over the bike and rider,” recalled the witness, who was also an architect.

The victim’s body ended up some 28 metres away from the spot where the truck came to a standstill after dragging the motorcycle along with it.

Scratch marks along the road surface were caused by the bike as it was dragged along.

Madam Justice Grima concluded that Cauchi was to blame for the fatal accident. Although there was contributory negligence on the part of the victim, the driver should have kept a proper lookout.

Lawyers Michael Scriha, Herman Mula, Roberto Spiteri and Michele Cardinali appeared parte civile.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Jacob Magri and Alessia Zammit McKeon were defence counsel.