Zarb Coaches director and driver avoid prison on appeal

The court of appeal has overturned custodial sentences imposed on two men who had previously been held responsible for a 2003 incident in which a 13-year-old schoolgirl suffered serious and permanent injuries.

In separate proceedings, the court exonerated Zarb Coaches Limited director Emanuel Zarb and suspended the punishment awarded to van driver Cedric Sciberras. 

The pair had filed appeals after each being sentenced to six months imprisonment in 2010, having been held responsible for contributory negligence in a traffic accident that almost claimed the life of 13-year-old Daliborja Vrhovac.

Vrhovac had suffered grievous injuries when the rear door of the overloaded van, in which she was a passenger, opened unexpectedly, causing her to fall out of the vehicle on to the Regional Road in October 2003. 

The girl suffered multiple fractures, visible disfigurement, loss of all her teeth, spinal injuries and a partial loss of hearing and had spent a month recovering in hospital.

The court had heard several schoolchildren testify to there being 26 students in the van which was only legally permitted to carry no more than 10 passengers.

Zarb had dispatched two vans to collect the 26 schoolchildren. However, Sciberras had embarked all 26 of them into his mini van. Sciberras had not wanted to leave any children behind, in spite of knowing that a second van was on the way.

Judge Michael Mallia deplored the driver’s decision to load all the students onto his minivan as "deplorable and censorable".

However, the judge also noted that the injured girl had been compensated by the insurer and that the driver had a clean criminal record and held that the effective jail term was excessive. Sciberras’ sentence was converted to a sentence of six-month imprisonment suspended for two years. 

The court ruled that on his part, Zarb had dispatched two minivans to pick up the students and could not be held responsible for Sciberras’ unilateral decision and cleared him of all charges.

Lawyer Joe Giglio represented Zarb.