Drunk driver gets three years in jail for killing cyclist in hit-and-run

A driver who ran over and killed a cyclist in a hit-and-run incident in 2009 has been jailed for three years, after a court heard how he had driven on, telling his passenger to "calm down."

Anthony Taliana had been drunk when his Opel Astra struck cyclist Clifford Micallef on the Coast Road on July 30, 2009 at around 5.15am, when the 21 year-old was driving his girlfriend to her home in Buġibba after a night out in Paceville.

The collision occurred on a bend close to the entrance to the White Rocks Complex and caused the cyclist to be slammed into the windscreen, onto the car roof before being flung onto the road surface. Micallef died at the scene.

Taliana, however, drove on, dropping off his friend before making his way to his father’s garage in Ħamrun where he parked the damaged vehicle. Police had tracked down the vehicle and went after the man’s father who was its registered owner.

The father was interrogated by the police. He had tried to take the blame for the accident, but when questioned by the police, the father’s replies were unconvincing and he soon admitted that his young son might have been at the wheel.

Taliana was later found inside his Buġibba flat, lying in bed, fast asleep and stinking of alcohol.

Criminal charges were filed against him for involuntary homicide, drink-driving, driving without third party insurance cover, driving at excessive speed and relapsing, after having already been convicted of dangerous driving.

The court had heard experts report that road conditions were dry and visibility was good at the time of the collision. Damages to the Opel showed that it had been traveling at around 90km/hr it struck the cyclist from behind, hurling him forward.

A medical expert certified that Micallef had died as a direct result of the violent impact.

A drugs test on Taliana turned out negative, but a chemical expert had concluded that a urine sample taken from the accused some six hours after the incident had indicated a significant presence of alcohol, classifying the driver as having been in a state of “euphoria/excitement” which entailed the impairment of attention, judgement, control and perception.

Taliana’s passenger and sole eyewitness to the incident had told the court how he had been driving at a “moderate to fast” speed at the time of the crash. She could not recall whether the cyclist had been wearing reflective clothing or whether the bike had lights.

“After the crash I was in a state of shock. I was screaming and wanted to get out of the car,” she said, but Taliana’s reaction had been to tell her to calm down.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli, in her sentence on the matter described the man’s reaction as “deplorable” and “unacceptable.” The court said that the message that human life was invaluable had to be made.

The accused had not only failed to keep a proper lookout, but, worst still, after hitting the cyclist he had continued on his way rather than stopping to give first aid or at least call for help.

Clifford Micallef

He had ignored his friend’s pleadings to stop, then later went to sleep, allowing his father to face the police in an attempt to shoulder the blame. Such behaviour was intolerable, said the court.

The court established that there was no contributory negligence on the part of the cyclist, who had been listening to music on his MP3 player when he was run over. The blame was entirely that of the driver, said the court, as he had failed to notice the bicycle’s lights and the rider’s fluorescent clothing.

Magistrate Demicoli found Taliana guilty and condemned him to a three-year prison term, also imposing a one-year ban on driving.

He escaped being convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol since the court was precluded from taking into consideration calculations made by a court expert due to a decision by the Constitutional Court in separate proceedings filed by the accused.

These 2015 proceedings had delayed the criminal case, observed the court, pointing out that the defence lawyer had ended its evidence in December 2017.

Taliana was also ordered to pay €1,267 in costs for the appointing of court experts.