A motorcyclist who suffered a five per cent disability when he was hit by a car in Gozo in 2017 has been awarded almost €40,000 in damages after a court concluded that the driver was to blame for the accident.
Presiding over the First Hall of the Civil Court in Gozo, Magistrate Brigette Sultana found that Guido Taddeo Farrugia was solely to blame for the accident that saw the motorcyclist, George Zahra, suffer serious injuries.
The court heard how the traffic accident took place at around 8am on June 15, when Zahra was riding his motorcycle in Triq l-Għarb in Għarb.
Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti has reassigned all of Magistrate Monica Vella’s criminal and civil case in the Gozo court, with sources saying this was down to slow throughput of work.
The decision was communicated last Thursday when lawyers with pending cases before Magistrate Vella were informed about the change. All civil and criminal cases were reassigned to Magistrate Brigette Sultana except those cases which Magistrate Vella had deferred for judgment.
Magistrate Vella has now been assigned to work at the law courts in Valletta.
Sources said Magistrate Vella had been assigned the bulk of cases that were pending when Magistrate Paul Coppini retired in October 2019. Some of his other cases were assigned to Magistrate Simone Grech.