Man appeals and gets bigger fine

An appeal court yesterday raised a Lm20 fine to Lm80 after a man`s appeal led to the determination of the merits of his case anew.

Donald Cilia, 42, of St Julian`s, was originally fined Lm20 by the Magistrates` Court for hurling dog excrement across Ross Street in St Julian`s between November 9 and 17, 2001.

Cilia appealed claiming the judgment was invalid as it referred to the wrong section of the law and, therefore, the wrong charge.

Mr Justice Vincent De Gaetano upheld the appeal and applied Article 428 subsection (3) of the Criminal Code which lays down that if a superior court (the appeal court) finds that the inferior court (the Magistrates` Court) has breached or omitted any of the formalities prescribed by law, the superior court shall quash the judgment and proceed to determine the merits of the case.

The judge heard how Cilia had hurled the excrement from his house, in Ross Street, across the road and onto the property belonging to an elderly couple.

Cilia said that once the excrement did not land onto the road, the charge brought against him could not be proven because it could not be proven that he had hurled the excrement across the road.

But the judge said the charge included the air space above the road.

On handing down judgment, Mr Justice De Gaetano noted that Cilia`s behaviour was deplorable and that he might have hit a passer-by with the excrement. He also noted that Cilia`s actions were designed to vex the couple.