Sports car vandalised at ADT compound

A British couple whose imported sports car was impounded by the Malta Transport Authority last year are to take legal action after the Mazda MX5 was severely damaged in the ADT compound.

The car stereo was stolen, the front bumper and side mirror cracked, the glove compartment was ripped out, wires were dangling from behind the dashboard, the seats were torn and the paintwork lost its shine.

According to the couple, the car needs a revamp of about €5,000 to return it to the state it was in before it was confiscated.

Albert Tapper and his girlfriend Sherianne brought their 1991 car from the UK in April last year, when Mr Tapper was transferred to Malta for work purposes. He said he obtained permission from an ADT officer to drive the vehicle around until the new registration scheme kicked in.

But last October, as he was driving through Tal-Balal in San Ġwann, an ADT inspector stopped him because he was driving a car with foreign number plates.

Mr Tapper said that upon being informed that he had been given permission to drive his car, the inspector replied that the officer had since been sacked and his words were therefore meaningless.

Mr Tapper's car was impounded on the spot and he had to call a taxi to take him to his office, making him late for a meeting.

He said the car was towed away and nobody informed him of its destination. All the couple were told was that it was taken to an ADT compound where they had to pay €6.95 a day for storage.

The ADT asked the couple to pay €8,000 in registration tax so that the car could have Maltese registration plates and be driven around the island freely.

To cut down on costs, he said friends in Malta suggested they wait for the new registration tax regime to come into force on January 1. However, the registration tax shot up to €15,000 because of the car's origin, age and emissions.

Mr Tapper felt it was not worth registering the car in Malta and wanted to send the car back to the UK. But the ADT procrastinated and would not answer any questions, not even telling him where the car was being kept.

The couple were finally sent a bill of €1,911 for the 273 days the car spent at the compound. Once the dues were settled they were told to pick up their vehicle, but they could not believe their eyes once they got there.

"I was in absolute shock when I saw the car. I did not know whether to laugh or cry," Mr Tapper said.

"It was in an official compound (off Qormi) and I was paying nearly €7 a day for it to be there. The least I expected was for it to be monitored," he added.

The couple have been in contact with their lawyers in Malta and are expected to take the issue to court.

When contacted, the ADT said it "does not divulge information regarding individual clients unless the matter is in the public domain".

Between June 2006 and April last year, the ADT impounded 285 cars bearing foreign registration plates.

mxuereb@timesofmalta.com