Jail term changed to suspended sentence

A St Julians man, who had been jailed for two-and-a-half years, for injuring a woman with a bottle yesterday had his punishment reduced to a two-year suspended jail term on appeal.

Trevor Spiteri had been jailed when the Magistrates' Court found him guilty of permanently injuring Anna Camilleri and slightly injuring her husband Franco and her brother-in-law John Azzopardi in Gzira on July 9, 2000.

He was also found guilty of assaulting Ms Camilleri, breaching the peace and throwing a bottle.

The court had heard how on the day of the incident the Camilleris were looking for a place to park in Gzira. They saw a space near a kiosk but this space was obstructed by soft drink crates. Following a brief argument between Franco Camilleri and Mr Spiteri's father, Emanuel, Mr Camilleri decided to drive on.

But when he failed to find another parking space Mr Camilleri asked a policeman if he could park in the space where the crates were and the officer said he could.

Some time later, while Mr Camilleri was at the traffic lights Mr Spiteri threw a bottle at him but hit his wife in the face, seriously injuring her.

Mr Spiteri appealed the first court's judgment and, on examining the grounds of appeal, Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono ruled that the last three charges were time-barred. He therefore cleared Mr Spiteri of assault, breaching the peace and throwing a bottle.

The judge also cleared Mr Spiteri of permanently injuring Ms Camilleri when he ruled that although the injuries were serious they were not of a permanent nature.

The judge gave Mr Spiteri a two-year jail term, suspended for four years, placed him under probation for four years and ordered him to pay Ms Camilleri Lm1,000 in compensation.