John Culatto
A COURT sentenced a young man who left a female passenger scarred for life after speeding on his moped in Gibraltar to four weeks in prison.
James Marrache, 21, had denied the charge of dangerous driving, forcing the Magistrates Court to hold a full trial of the incident.
The court heard how in the early hours of July 5, 2021 Marrache, aged 19 at the time, had been showing off to his passenger while riding down Flat Bastion Road.
She even asked him to slow down just before he lost control of the motorbike and crashed.
Police officers were quickly on the scene and saw ‘significant damage lying on the ground’ and ‘various scratches to a nearby wall’.
The court heard how the crash left the convicted man unconscious with various fractures while his passenger needed surgery to reconstruct her face, leaving her with mental health problems.
“The rider, James Marrache and his female pillion rider were taken to hospital to be treated for serious injuries,” the police statement said.
Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) collision investigators concluded Marrache ‘had been driving at excessive speed’ before the fall.
The Stipendiary Magistrate decided to give the young man a six months driving ban on top of the four week prison sentence for the offence.
“This young man has used our roads with a total disregard for the safety of himself and his pillion passenger,” the RGP spokesperson said.
“We hope that, as a result of the injuries they both received, he will drive more carefully in the future.”
Marrache’s lawyers said they would appeal against both the conviction and the sentence.
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