A former Transport Malta clerk who accepted three €4.66 "tips" to process documents for a friend so he would be able to avoid the queue was given a suspended jail term.
David Gatt, 28, had accepted the money from Stephen Mallia, a driving instructor with Swallow Garage, to process his clients' driving test certificates during the break.
Mr Gatt was under the impression that everything was legitimate and that he was just being "tipped" to process the material during his break and in, so doing, helping a friend avoid the queue.
But the practice got ensnared in a wider investigation in 2007 that uncovered false documents underpinning false documents. Mr Mallia would supply him with photocopies of false documents and he would process them as genuine.
Mr Gatt insisted he was unaware the documents were fake and pointed out that as a matter of policy the authority did accept photocopies. However, his superiors testified that photocopies could only be allowed once the necessary verifications were made.
During the proceedings, Mr Mallia corroborated most of what Mr Gatt said and pointed out that his friend had never actually asked for money but he used to tip him €4.66 for every job.
On this basis, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli ruled that the accused could not be found guilty of accepting a bribe as a public officer to do something which he was meant to do, which was the more serious of the two charges brought against him. Instead, he was found guilty of taking money beyond what is catered for as his remuneration to do something that was within the parameters of his duties.
The magistrate said that, although the amounts were small, this was still considered as being a bribe rather than a tip and that he had accepted money when he was not due any payment for his services.
The court said it took into account the fact that the money involved was very small and that the accused had no previous convictions. The magistrate handed down a six-month jail term suspended for 18 months and a general perpetual interdiction, which essentially means he cannot work for the government.