Victim in Zejtun hit-and-run suffered ruptured lungs, spinal fracture and haemorrhage, court hears

The victim of a fatal hit and run incident who was found in a Zejtun field last August, had suffered multiple injuries, including ruptured lungs and several fractures, a court has been told.

Forensic medicine and medico-legal experts testified about their findings as the case against 23-year-old Dean Donovan Frendo continued before Magistrate Ian Farrugia earlier today.

Frendo stands charged with the involuntary homicide of 51-year-old Antoine Degabriele in the hit-and-run incident. He is also accused of other offences, including driving a vehicle without a licence and insurance policy, exceeding the speed limit and tampering with evidence.

A passerby had called the police after discovering Degabriele’s lifeless body in a field, on President Anton Buttigieg street in Żejtun.

In a previous sitting, the court had heard how Frendo had been arrested after a speeding Mazda captured on CCTV in the seconds immediately preceding the fatal impact was traced back to him.

Forensic expert Dr Mario Scerri took the witness stand first. He had visited the crime scene on 5 August at around noon, observing the body which was lying in a field separated from the pavement by a low stone wall.

From his examination of the victim at the scene, Scerri estimated that Degabriele had been dead for around 12 hours at that point and had suffered injuries “consistent with a collision with a vehicle which appeared to be the cause of death.”

Dr Safraz Ali and Dr David Pisani, who had conducted the post-mortem examination of the body, testified next. The examination was carried out on 6 August and had concluded that Degabriele had suffered a rupture of the lungs, a spinal fracture, as well as several other fractures and haemorrhages. The injuries were compatible with a motor vehicle accident, they said.

The compilation of evidence continues next month.

Inspectors Roderick Spiteri and Shaun Pawney are prosecuting. Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb are defence counsel. Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta are appearing parte civile.