Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/283655
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 26 MARCH 2014 7 CHRIS MANGION LACK of evidence, conflicting proof and a heavily contaminated crime scene resulted in the acquittal of Jean Guy Legrand, a 69-year-old Canadian national involved in a fa- tal traffic accident in Mdina three years ago, following which his wife lost her life. The incident happened at around 12.15pm on 16 July 2011, at Triq l- Infetti, Mdina. The accused, with his wife as passenger, were driving a Chevrolet Kalos down Infetti Road towards Mosta. Another motorist, Clayton Fenech, was driving his BMW Z3 from the opposite direction. As the BMW approached the last bend in the road, the vehicles were involved in a violent impact, both on the drivers' side. The Chevrolet rebounded into a Toyota vehicle driving behind it. All three cars suffered considerable damage. The occupants inside the BMW escaped unhurt, however the accused and his wife suffered seri- ous injuries and she lost her life two months later. Legrand was charged with the in- voluntary homicide of his wife Renee Pelland and involuntary damages to the vehicles involved in the collision through negligent and reckless driv- ing. From the outset, the case was pep- pered with conflicting evidence regarding the dynamics of the inci- dent. While there was no doubt that the cause of the fatality was a head- on collision, no evidence indicating the exact spot of impact was put forward. The police officer investigating the scene did not prepare the sketch im- mediately nor was the road closed to traffic. Evidence at the scene was subsequently heavily tampered with because of passing cars and sand thrown on the street by Civil Protec- tion personnel due to a sizeable oil slick. An inquiry was only ordered after Pelland's condition was certi- fied as critical. The court's traffic expert Mario Buttigieg concluded that he did not find the accused at fault and respon- sible for the incident. "The impact occurred when the BMW invaded the carriageway of the Chevrolet at high speed. The BMW was going so fast that the other vehicle was pushed back and spun around and hit another car, while BMW only stopped after it hit a wall," he said. Injured party Clayton Fenech, who is also a lawyer, contested the court expert's report, claiming that Butti- gieg was in collusion with Gasan Mamo insurance, which is the in- surance company for the car driv- en by the accused. "He had previ- ously informed me that Legrand was at fault, so I do not understand his change of heart," he said. The court expert denied the al- legations and confirmed under oath that he was not aware that the Chevrolet was insured by Gas- an Mamo. The court ruled there was nothing to censure about the report and that the conclusions reached by Buttigieg were noth- ing "but the application of com- mon sense to the dynamics of an incident." The accused testified that as he turned the bend, he was faced with the BMW coming at high speed in his carriageway. The driver of the Toyota, who argued that the Chev- rolet had never changed lanes, confirmed this. The court said that lack of evi- dence and conflicting proof could not but benefit the accused, who could not be found guilty if there was even the slightest doubt. "The natural consequence of driving at high speed in a road full of bends is that the driver cannot fully control the vehicle and necessar- ily drives at an angle rather than round a bend, trespassing into the other carriageway," the Magistrate said. Magistrate Edwina Grima ruled that the findings of the court ex- pert were safe and satisfactory, meaning that there was no evi- dence suggesting that the accused was driving on the wrong side of the road. "This leaves no doubt in the mind of the court that the ac- cused was driving diligently, with moderate speed and on his side of the road, and could never be held responsible for the collision," the Magistrate said. Consequently the court acquit- ted Jean Guy Legrand of all charg- es. Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Jen- nifer Shaw appeared for Legrand. News Canadian driver acquitted of involuntary homicide of his wife Man who shot 'friend' gets suspended sentence Man guilty of shooting friend unintentionally handed six-month prison sentence suspended for two years CHRIS MANGION HORACE Fenech, 37, of Siggiewi, was handed a two-year suspended sentence after being found guilty of slightly injuring his former friend during an argument in which he fired a shotgun. Fenech was at first charged with the attempted murder of Nicholas Catania, however the charge was later reduced to that of grievously injuring the victim. The accused was also charged with being in possession of and using an unlicensed firearm and wielding a sharp weapon against Catania. The court noted that the incident stemmed from a disagreement be- tween the two men, whose friend- ship had deteriorated to such a degree that the accused wanted Catania to leave the farmhouse in which they had been living togeth- er for four months. Fenech argued that his friend kept bad company, was involved in illegal hunting and had illegal bird callers, which he did not want on his property. Fenech also accused Catania of having stolen a Golden Plover from him. The accused said the argument escalated when he picked an axe to frighten Catania away, but then threw the weapon out of a window. At the same time, Catania in- sisted that he had managed to dis- arm Fenech and that it was he who threw the axe out. However, the axe was never found by investigators. As Catania was leaving the farm- house, he made towards the bird- cages, but Fenech allegedly shot towards the cages. Two more shots were fired, with the last hitting Catania in his back, shoulders and neck. Magistrate Edwina Grima noted that Catania was hit by lead shot and not by a bullet aimed directly at him. "Since none of the previ- ous shots were aimed at the vic- tim, the court believed that the accused had no intent to kill or grievously injure the victim, but simply wanted to frighten him off." However, Fenech assaulted Ca- tania twice in a short span of time and injured him. The court found Fenech guilty of slightly injuring Catania, as- saulting the victim and being in possession and using an unli- censed firearm. Magistrate Grima handed the accused a six-month jail term suspended for two years. Fenech was also ordered to pay €946 in court expenses. Inspector Roderick Agius prose- cuted, while law yer Roberto Mon- talto appeared for the accused. JURGEN BALZAN PARLIAMENTARY secre- tary Michael Farrugia gave the strongest hint yet that outline development permits would be reintroduced four years after their removal. Speaking yesterday during a meeting with the Malta Devel- opers Association committee, Farrugia said that the government would announce up to 100 planning proposals during a consultation meet- ing over the split of MEPA into two separate entities responsible for plan- ning and the environment. Underlining MDA's proposals for the sector, president Sandro Chetcuti stressed the need to reintroduce the outline development permits which were removed by the previous PN administration when it carried out a MEPA reform in 2010. "The Outline Permit system should be reintroduced so that there would be no need for the applicant to pay a lot of money before being told that his appli- cation had not been accepted," Chet- cuti said. "Each investor needs to be in a position to know where he stands with certainty before he undertakes an investment and the government needs to appreciate this if it wants more entrepreneurs to create sustain- able projects in the country," he said. An outline permit is normally con- sidered as fully-fledged permit since it gives applicants a legal expectation that the full permit would be approved without having to carry out all neces- sary studies. However, this makes it harder for MEPA to revoke an initial permit, even if it is proved that the decision is in breach of other policies and regula- tions. Farrugia said that the reintroduction of outline permits would be among the proposals which government would announce tomorrow, adding that this would be up for discussion. Stressing that government was and remains "pro-business," Farrugia warned that government would not tolerate any abuse. Through the demerger, Far- rugia insisted, the new plan- ning authority would "sim- plify" planning processes and one of the key proposals was that of setting up a "one stop shop" which would facilitate the application process. Chetcuti maintained that despite the efforts made over the past year by the new ad- ministration, "MDA notes that exces- sive bureaucracy is still in place and therefore there is the need for govern- ment to take its proposals more seri- ously. Otherwise the sector will con- tinue to face the problems that have bogged it down in recent years". He added that if all stakeholders worked conscientiously and if govern- ment "will not allow more unneces- sary disruption, the MDA's members can once again be encouraged to in- crease investment in the country". "We will be addressing excessive bureaucracy by proposing a series of measures such as the simplification of commercial permits," Farrugia said. Among the list of proposals, Far- rugia highlighted efforts to centralise the separate mapping units into one single entity and extend expired per- mits to March 2015. Government mulling reintroduction of outline permits Sandro Chetcuti (left) and Micheal Farrugia