Driver who crashed into five cars on New Year's morning 'intoxicated' but 'not drunk'

A 19-year-old man who crashed into five vehicles in San Gwann early on New Year’s day while intoxicated, was not legally drunk, a court has been told this morning.

Abdimajid Noor Ismael from Somalia appeared before magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona, charged with dangerous driving, five counts of voluntary damage, as well as dangerous driving. Ismael also faces other charges of causing voluntary damage to water pipes belonging to a block of flats in San Gwann and stealing a mobile phone.

Inspector Matthew Spagnol told the court that a breathalyzer test carried out on the accused revealed that he had been under the drink-drive limit but said that substance abuse was suspected. The accused didn’t remember what he had done, he said.

Ismael pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyer Josette Sultana requested bail, arguing that the accused has a job, a fixed address and owned the car. She asked the court not to cause him to lose his job by keeping him in custody.

The prosecution did not object to bail, but pointed out that the accused would regularly visit the area where the collisions occurred, as a friend of his lived nearby. “He also changes addresses regularly,” the inspector said.

Bail was granted against a personal guarantee of €1,000. Ismael was ordered to deposit his passport and ID card in court and sign a bail book twice a week. The court made plain to the accused that he would be required to reside at the address he specified and nowhere else.