The court ruling acquitting the Croatian millionare businessman, Tomislav Horvatincic, of all charges relating to the 2011 maritime accident in which he killed two people has been overturned, and he will be tried again before a new panel of judges.

The Zadar County Court Appeals Chamber explained that judge Maja Supe, who acquitted Horvatincic in October last year, has committed significant violations in the penal code because the reasons for the acquittal were, to a considerable extent, contradictory, particularly the acceptance of syncope – a temporary loss of consciousness – as the reason for declaring Horvatincic not guilty for the death of an Italian married couple in 2011, reported the Croatian Jutarnji List daily on Tuesday.

The accident occured on August 6 2011 near the Croatian coastal town of Primosten, when Horvatincic crashed his speedboat into Francesco and Marinella Salpietri’s sailing boat at the speed of 26 knots (approximately 50 km/h), killing the couple.

The Appeals Chamber judges said that the only basis for the conclusion that Horvatincic suffered from syncope was Horvatincic’s defence, and the testimony of his partner, Anica Djerdja, who was with him when the accident happened. In an earlier statement, Horvatincic had blamed the speedboat’s control system failure for the accident.

“Two days after the accident, on August 8, Tomo Horvatincic listed his health complaints to Zeljko Baranovic, GP, and said nothing of the diagnosis of the vasovagal syncope. Moreover, when asked whether he had any other health troubles, he said that was all,” the Appeals Chamber judges said.

This is the second time a court decision in this case has been overturned. The first ruling, which sentenced him to 20 months in prison and 3 years probation, was annulled in November 2016 after an appeal, and the new proceedings, resulting in his acquittal, began in February 2017.

The new panel of judges will have to eliminate all the major breaches in the penal code and reach a legal ruling.