Man pleads guilty to wilful damage while drunk

Giuseppe Artino, 51, from Catania and living in Siracusa, was conditionally discharged for three years after pleading guilty to wilfully damaging a private vehicle.

The incident happened on at 4:30am on 15 June at Spencer Hill, Marsa. Artino, in a drunken stupor repeatedly crashed his vehicle into the car parked in front of his. The impact was enough to move the car forward in its parking space. Subsequently the Sicilian went to the St Julian's police station and claimed someone had damaged his car.

Inspector Godwin Scerri explained to the court the seriousness of a false report. "Being drunk neither excuses the voluntary damage nor the filing of a false report," he said, arguing that the police wasted resources investigating a person who was in fact the victim. The vehicle damages amounted to €190.

The defence lawyer replied that the Sicilian was misguided and unaware of his actions. He pleaded with the court to issue a formal warning and let the accused go. "The man came to Malta to talk to me as his lawyer and ended in the dock. the damage is certainly not willful and the a mount seems exaggerated," the lawyer said. He also told the court that Artino was ready to pay the damages and apologised to the police.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti, heard the submissions of both parties and the accused's guilty plea and conditionally discharged the Sicilian for three years.

Inspector Godwin Scerri prosecuted while lawyer Peter Borg Costanzi appeared for the accused.