Man spared hefty fine

A 57-year-old man has been spared a hefty fine, that potentially exceeded Lm90,000, when he was cleared of failing to demolish an illegal garage for 10 years against Lm25 daily fine.

Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani cleared him on the grounds that his identity had not been confirmed by the police and documents exhibited as evidence were not legally acceptable.

In a judgment handed down in February 1989 Joseph Galea, of Zejtun, had been fined Lm50 and ordered to demolish an illegal garage against a Lm25 fine for every day he failed to obey. The 1989 judgment was then confirmed in an appeal judgment handed down in November 1995.

Years later, Mr Galea was charged with failing to abide by the court order and Magistrate Padovani, who presided over the case, heard that Mr Galea had demolished the building last year. This meant that, had he been found guilty of the offence he would have to pay a fine of over Lm90,000. On evaluating the case the magistrate noted that none of the police officers who took the witness stand had identified Mr Galea. Apart from that, the copies of the 1989 and 1995 judgments were not legally valid.

For this reason the magistrate cleared him of the charge.

Police Inspector Joseph Agius prosecuted.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta appeared for Mr Galea.