A five-year jail term for a teacher who involuntarily killed an elderly man in a traffic accident was converted to a suspended sentence and fine on appeal on Wednesday.

Dorianne Camilleri, 36, had been convicted of causing the death of Alfred Zahra, 64 and seriously injuring his sister Carmela Zahra.

Dorianne Camilleri

Both had been crossing the Rabat road in Attard when the accident happened.

Justice  Edwina Grima confirmed that Ms Camilleri involuntarily caused the  death of Mr Zahra by her driving, but acquitted her of injuring his sister. 

The jail term was converted to six months imprisonment suspended for a year. A five-year suspension of the driving licence was reduced to one year. The teacher was ordered to pay court fees of €2,401. 

In March last year parliament removed the minimum five-year prison sentence in accidental traffic accidents that involved more than one victim, a decision taken after the public outcry which the decision of the first court in this case had caused.

The reaction to the sentence had seen more than 27,000 people signing a petition requesting a change in the law.

Ms Camilleri's lawyer, Arthur Azzopardi, had welcomed the decision, sparing his client from serving time. He said common sense had prevailed.

Since the original conviction, two new witnesses came forward and said they were willing to testify in the woman’s defence during the appeal. One was former finance minister Tonio Fenech, who insisted the driver could never have seen the people she hit as they emerged from behind a van.

Dr Stephen Tonna Lowell and Prof. Ian Refalo also assisted Ms Camilleri.