Local warden fined Lm300 for drink driving

A local warden was yesterday fined Lm300 and had his driving licence suspended for three months after he was involved in a traffic accident in Zejtun when he was under the influence of alcohol.

Aldo Fenech had originally been found guilty by the Magistrates' Court of reckless and dangerous driving and had been fined Lm50 and had his driving licence suspended for three months.

Both Fenech and the Attorney General had appealed. The former insisted his driving at the time of the accident was neither reckless nor dangerous. On the other hand, the Attorney General complained that the first court was wrong in discarding a document produced by the police thus acquitting him of charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.

The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided by the Chief Justice, Vincent De Gaetano, said it could not agree with the first court when it decided to discard the police document which consisted of a printout from the equipment used to carry out breathalyser tests.

The first court had deemed the document altered and incomplete but the appeal court noted that the document had been damaged and had been repaired by opaque cellophane tape in a way that parts of the legend had been covered. The appeal court added that all essential information still appeared on the document.

Thus, the first court was not justified in ignoring the document that clearly indicated Fenech had an alcohol intake that was above the limit prescribed by law.

In considering Fenech's appeal, the appeal court pointed out that drink driving leading to a collision, as happened in this case, amounted to both reckless and dangerous driving.