Driver acquitted of driving at a pedestrian

A motorist has been acquitted of trying to run over a pedestrian after insulting him because footage of the incident showed nothing untoward.

Ivan Stivala, 41, was charged with attempted grievous bodily harm, reckless driving, uttering insults or threats, exceeding the limits of provocation and not being fully in control of a vehicle he was driving.

Stivala had been accused of driving at the pedestrian with the intent of running him over.

The pedestrian had testified, telling the court that he had been crossing the road and had stopped when he saw a van coming and wasn’t sure if it was going to stop. The driver had indicated that he should cross and he had done so, only for the driver to attempt to run him over. “Then, when I saw him driving at me, I ran. Thank God I ran because he would have hit me and hurt me for sure…Then he reversed and told me ‘stay in the middle again so I can run you over, pufta.’

“I asked him why he was swearing at me but he kept on calling me pufta and drove on.” Another witness had confirmed hearing the insult and the driver saying “next time I’ll run you over.”

But the court said it had seen the CCTV footage of the incident, and not just the stills exhibited, which showed the pedestrian lazily crossing the road, looking only to his right, when a car rounded a bend and stopped to allow him to cross. The pedestrian appeared uncertain as to what to do and stopped in the middle of the road. At that moment, the driver is seen to continue driving at normal speed, whilst the pedestrian picks up the pace and crosses the road.

The footage showed no reaction on the pedestrian’s part, who doesn’t look back as would be normally expected when insults are involved.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud noted that the footage contradicted much of the testimony given by the pedestrian and the other witness.

Quoting at length from scholarly publications and case law, the magistrate noted that the criminal intent of the perpetrator – int this case the generic intent of causing harm- must be manifested in preparatory acts. This notion had historically led to debate among legal scholars on whether attempted grievous bodily harm could ever be contemplated as an offence and the court gave an overview of the legal doctrines involved.

The court said that from the evidence, it could not reach a conclusion, beyond reasonable doubt, that the accused was guilty of the charges against him, especially in view of the footage which did not corroborate the testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses.

Stivala was therefore acquitted of all charges.

Lawyer Ezekiel Psaila appeared for Stivala.