Young driver fined €3,000

Attard man Andrew Pace was fined €3,000 and had his drivers' licence suspended for four weeks after being found guilty of causing grievous injuries to Ann Marie Gauci and damaging her vehicle in a traffic accident back in December 2010.

The incident happened at 3am on 4 December 2010.

22-year-old Pace was driving down from Rabat when the victim was driving towards the direction of Dingli. Gauci held that there was no traffic at that time of night, when a car suddenly appeared coming from the opposite direction at excessive speed.

Pace's Ford Fiesta hit her vehicle on the passenger's side causing it to spin in the opposite direction. Gauci lost consciousness and was taken to Mater Dei Hospital by ambulance where she was found to have suffered a fracture dislocation of the hip joint. The victim had also suffered facial injuries, injuries to the nasal bone and to her jaw. The injuries were classified as grievous.

Although the impact between the two vehicles was strong, the accused did not suffer any injuries in the accident.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri found Pace guilty of grievously injuring Gauci and damaging her vehicle due to negligent driving, however the accused was acquitted of driving dangerously. The court fined Pace €3,000. The driving license of the accused was suspended for four weeks.