Man fined after causing damage to boutique hotel while drunk

A man has admitted to causing damage at a boutique hotel in Naxxar after returning from an alcohol bender so extreme that he needed to be hospitalised for several days.

40-year-old Vincent Falzon from Ghajnsielem in Gozo appeared in the dock before magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo on Tuesday, accused of causing less than €2,500 worth of damage to the hotel and insulting or threatening a police sergeant.

Inspector Joseph Mallia, prosecuting, further charged Falzon with disobeying legitimate police orders, being drunk and disorderly in a public place, breaching the peace and breaching previous bail conditions.

“We meet again Mr. Falzon,” remarked the magistrate as the sitting began.

It is understood that the man had returned to the hotel where had been staying on 29 September, after a night of heavy drinking. Hotel staff had spoken to the drunk guest, during which conversation he had damaged the receptionist’s mobile phone by throwing it against a wall.

Such was the level of his intoxication that the man had to be taken to hospital, where he spent four days before being discharged.

The man pleaded guilty to the charges during his arraignment on Tuesday.

When asked by the court, Inspector Mallia confirmed that the damages Falzon had caused to both the hotel and the receptionist had already been settled in full.

Lawyer George Anton Buttigieg, assisting the defendant, submitted that his client had cooperated with the police, adding that he deeply regretted his actions and was formally apologising to the police sergeant.

Finding the man guilty on his own admission, the court fined him €2,000, which he must pay within the next six months and ordered the confiscation of his €1,000 bail security.