Chief Justice suspends jail term given to police sergeant

A police sergeant who was jailed for four months for slightly injuring a French woman had his jail term suspended by a year on appeal.

Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano altered the effective jail term after noting that although the crime was serious one could not ignore the fact that PS David Sant had rendered an "impeccable service" during his 20 years of police service.

PS Sant had been jailed for four months after the Magistrates' Court found him guilty of injuring 56-year-old Catherine Sophie Pernot Sprangers and committing a crime he was in duty bound to prevent outside the Bay Street Complex in St Julians on May 10.

The Chief Justice, sitting in the Court of Criminal Appeal, heard that PS Sant was on duty in the area near Bay Street when a coach blocked the road and several cars lined up behind it.

The officer asked the motorists behind the coach to reverse their cars because the coach driver feared that, if he drove forward, the wheels would get jammed in a culvert.

Ms Sprangers, who was driving behind the coach, refused to reverse and started hooting. There was a language problem between her and the sergeant and, as she hooted persistently, the sergeant tried to arrest her. She resisted arrest and scratched him on the arm.

In the meantime, the coach moved on, meaning that Ms Sprangers was the only one blocking the road and the sergeant approached her asking her to move on.

The court noted that video clips exhibited in court showed the sergeant open the door of her car. As he was on his mobile phone she tried to push him away. The sergeant raised his left knee towards her neck and she managed to avoid being hit by it. As she kept trying to pull the door shut, he jerked his right knee and hit her in the chest so that she fell onto the passengers' seat.

The Chief Justice said that this was a serious crime and, had it not been for the newspaper MaltaToday midweek, it would not have been exposed. Although such crimes deserved to be punished with imprisonment, one could not ignore the fact that PS Sant had rendered an impeccable service for 20 years in the police force, had a clean criminal record and a service record to be proud of, the court ruled.

The judge noted that Ms Sprangers had forgiven the sergeant and that her attitude on the day did not help matters. For this reason, the Chief Justice suspended the four-month jail term for a year.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta appeared for PS Sant.