Five bus drivers acquitted

Five bus drivers were yesterday found not guilty of gathering in a group to commit a crime during the public transport strike in 2008 but one was found guilty of disobeying police orders and fined €56.

Silvio Borg, 39, George Psaila, 42, Denis Desira, 38, Wayne Desira, 18, and Paul Cardona, 31 had driven down to the Valletta Waterfront on July 15, 2008 for something to eat.

At the same time the police were called to the area because around 100 men taking part in the strike had gathered around a taxi that had gone to pick up tourists alighting from a cruise ship. The taxi driver had been viewed as a strike breaker and the police were called in because the situation was getting out of hand.

The police stopped the men in the car driven by Mr Cardona and told them to leave the area; however, they only left after 10 minutes and two warnings from Police Superintendent Alexandra Mamo, who had told them to leave the scene immediately.

The men were found not guilty of gathering in a group of 10 or more people to commit a crime and gathering in a group of three or more with the intention of scaring people.

They were also cleared of disobeying police orders except for Mr Cardona who was found guilty of disobeying the officers' orders to drive away immediately.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli said that after she considered all the evidence she found no proof that the men had gathered in a group to commit a crime or to scare people.

She found Mr Cardona guilty of disobeying police orders and fined him €56.