The attorney general’s office has appealed the case in which a driver accused of causing permanent injuries to a jogger was let off the hook because the charges were deemed time-barred by the court. 

Matteo Grima spent two weeks in a coma and was left with permanent injuries after he was hit by car driven by Raymond Camilleri in Triq Ħad-Dingli, Rabat in April 2020.

But in September, magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace cleared the 64-year-old of all charges.

Now, in an application filed in the court of appeal, Attorney General lawyer Antoine Agius Bonnici insisted that the magistrate presiding over the case applied the wrong law when deciding that the case was time-barred.

Agius Bonnici argued that, in this case, the time-barring period was of five years not two.

When clearing the 64-year-old, the court upheld arguments by defence lawyers Giannella de Marco and Charles Mercieca that the charges were time-barred.

It also emerged that Magistrate Nadine Lia’s inquiry into the April 23, 2020 accident was only concluded on January 12, 2022 – 21 months after the accident – while the charges against Camilleri were filed the following July.

Wrong part of criminal code

In the appeal, the AG pointed out that the first court had acquitted the driver under article 328 of the criminal code, an article under which Camilleri was not charged.

This article was about causing a fire or damage to property through imprudence, negligence or unskilfulness in a trade or profession or through non-observance of any regulation. Camilleri had not done any of these things, the AG said.

Instead, he had been charged under articles 218, 225 and 226 – causing death or serious injuries through imprudence, negligence or unskilfulness.

While the time-barring period for article 328 was two years, the others carried a five-year prescription period.

Camilleri was served with the charges on July 12 last year and ordered to appear in court in September. The charges clearly referred to the incident in question, in which Grima was seriously injured and spent time fighting for his life.

Agius Bonnici, therefore, called on the appeal court to rule that the first court had applied the wrong legal provision and, instead, order that the case to continue being heard on the merits.

Grima was jogging in April 2020 when he was run over by a car. He suffered serious head injuries and fell into a two-week coma before making an inspirational recovery despite his permanent injuries.

In an interview with Times of Malta shortly after the judgment, Grima lashed out at the Maltese justice system, saying it was geared to help criminals not victims.

He also called for a radical revamp of the present system that “promotes double victimisation”.

“It’s shameful. The system is failed and needs to change. I went through hell and the person who caused it was let off the hook thanks to court delays.

“Dropping a criminal case simply because two years have passed since the incident is the biggest farce I have ever heard,” he said.

“If there are these delays and the justice system cannot cope, then it’s only fair that the prescription period must be prolonged,” he added.

He asked why the time-barring window did not start once the magisterial inquiry was completed and forwarded to the police, rather than from the time of the incident.