A 26-year-old man who had been driving his employer’s dilapidated van when he ran over a man on a zebra crossing was fined €1,500.

Angelo Zahra of Attard was driving along the stretch of road near San Anton Palace and the Corinthia Palace Hotel when he ran over Anthony Grech who, moments before, had left the hotel where he worked. The incident occurred on May 22, 2008 at about 10.30 p.m. and Mr Grech suffered severe head injuries. A court expert, Joseph Zammit, testified that the Isuzu van’s braking system was inadequate and, in fact, the driver had to pump the brake pedal several times to try and get the pressure up. Even then it was still inadequate.

Mr Zahra testified the victim had appeared out of nowhere, something which Magistrate Edwina Grima said she could not believe because the accused had good visibility of the road.

Mr Zahra claimed the victim was not on the zebra crossing at the time of impact. However, glass from the van was found on the zebra crossing, the magistrate noted.

Mr Grech said he had looked both ways before crossing and did not see the van. But Magistrate Grima said this was unlikely and it was probable he did not exercise proper caution before crossing.

The magistrate placed most of the blame on Mr Zahra for failing to be vigilant as required by law but she also blamed Mr Grech for not looking properly and Mr Zahra’s employer for not maintaining a van that was more than 20 years old.