Police use pepper spray to stop fight
Antonino Enrico Galvagno a resident of Mosta, today admitted in court to having slightly injured a police constable and resisted arrest in an incident in Naxxar early yesterday.
The accused, 19, who is a construction worker, told the court that he did not need a lawyer and would admit to the charges.
Police Inspector Elton Taliana said the accused needed to realise the gravity of the charges. The incident, he said, involved a fight. The police intervened and matters escalated. Officers had to use pepper spray to calm down the situation. All this, he said, occurred during the village feast when everyone was supposed to have been having fun.
The inspector said that the fact that the accused was drunk was no justification for his actions, although he had realised what he had done wrong and, in his statement, had apologised. The inspector recommended a suspended jail term.
The court condemned the accused to a one-year jail term suspended for two years and fined him €23.
53 Comments
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c.t. busuttil
Sep 11th 2010, 21:27
23 euro for a grave crime. Equivalent to the fee for registering for free education with Junior College or University!
John Pace
Sep 11th 2010, 20:18
Eur23???
A speed camera fine is even higher than that!!!
Ara veru qedt jaqaw fir redikolu il qrati...
Vincent Borg
Sep 11th 2010, 17:33
My comment
Only in Malta
Tal-biki u dahk.
My Question
What if a Maltese done the same offence in Italy?
The Verdict???????
E.Schembri
Sep 11th 2010, 17:06
€23 ????? what a joke, no wonder we will remain the laughing stock of Europe. €23 doesn't even cover the cost of the pepper spray, let alone punish the individual for assaulting a police officer.
Therefore a parking offence is the equivalent of assaulting a police officer? The magistrate might as well resign from his post for disservice to our country.
Pierre Portelli
Sep 11th 2010, 12:36
LOL €23 same fine as a parking fine, less than a speed camera fine! Yes we really take our courts seriously :)
Anne Marie Attard
Sep 11th 2010, 11:12
23Eur??? Are we joking!!!??? U jekk tinqabad tpejjep go post pubbliku tehel 233Eur!!! Nahseb li wasal iz-zmien li nduru sewwa mal-ligijiet!!
ray sacco
Sep 11th 2010, 10:26
23 euros doesn't even cover the pepper spray wasted!
Michael grima
Sep 11th 2010, 09:24
Vera tal misthija! X'ma jitkesshux dawn it tip ta nies mal -pulizija! dazgur li mhux se jqabbad avukat! Kieku kien jehel aktar! il multa ghandha tkun ta 230Euros biex l-affarijiet isiru bis serjeta.ha nghidlek.. X'ARUKAZA!
Joe Borg
Sep 10th 2010, 10:11
Nixtieq inkun naf min fejn harget din it €23. Ma nafx ghalfejn mhux 25. Jew forsi 20 ghax 25 hafna miskin.
Victor Spiteri
Sep 10th 2010, 15:54
23 Euros is what used to be Lm10 ....
JOHN O SCERRI
Sep 10th 2010, 08:44
1 . For how much longer shall one keep converting the old Malta liri to euro ?
23 euro is equivalent to approx. 10 Malta liri.
2. Will these rediculous fines motivate the police force to even risk being injured, mamed for life or even killed? Surely not ...so don't be surprised to hear that police moved one step back and let the perpetrators go on with it .
S Vella
Sep 10th 2010, 08:42
@ G Falzon.. I guess the €23 covers the administrative costs.. otherwise i cannot think how they got to that amount.. :)
Christian Sciberras
Sep 10th 2010, 00:39
23 euros?? This is a joke, is it?
Why I would punch in the face everyone I dislike, for 25 euros each.
Come on let's be serious for once!!
Rachele Manunta
Sep 9th 2010, 23:10
You see what they want you to see; !!......Where you all there to agree or debate his sentence? ....who are we to deicide about the ammout he should have been fined....lets behave in a mature way and be more reflective and less judgemental cause as the maltese saying goes " kulhass andu xi ixomm taht idu" !!!
G Falzon
Sep 9th 2010, 19:32
I see lack of consistency and some contrast between these two statements above:
i. Police Inspector Elton Taliana said the accused needed to realise the gravity of the charges, and
ii. The inspector recommended a suspended jail term......The court condemned the accused to a one-year jail term suspended for two years and fined him €23.
Can someone tell us why the €23? :-)
John Pisani
Sep 9th 2010, 18:16
Jekk taqalek karta fl-art jew xi sigarett il-multa hija (ikkoreguni jekk sjjer zbaljat) €58. Twegga’ Pulizija u tirrezisti l-arrest = €23???????????? "Konna, ghadna u nibqghu Pajjiz tal-Mickey Mouse" proset Martin li ktibt din il-kanzunetta u proset Bundy li kantajtha.
John Pisani
Sep 9th 2010, 17:59
€23!!!!!!!!!!! Ahjar ma wehel xejn multa milli dinir-redikolagni. Din is-sentenza turi kemm ix-xoghol tal-Pulizija mhux stmat mill-Qrati Maltin. Wegga' lill-Pulizija u rrezista l-arrest. Proset hey!!!!!
John Mifsud
Sep 9th 2010, 17:59
Imma kemm se ndumu ndahqu id-dinja binha?
R.Camilleri
Sep 9th 2010, 17:11
Just 23euro. It's very much less than the police time involved in wages and the court magistrates. It is a shame to penalize a person just 23euro, if this had happened in his country I presume it would have been much more.
D. A . Agius
Sep 9th 2010, 17:03
I guess that getting drunk cost the guy much more than the EUR23 he was fined!
We should think about creating a new niche in tourism: Fight tourism! Get drunk, have a fight, be charged in court and prosecuted and all for under a 100EUR bill!
Cost for the taxpayer:
Three Police Officers for four hours from crowd control to statement taking and taking to court: 10EUR/hour x 3x 4 = EUR120.
Magistrate's time for a 30 min sitting, including court clerk = EUR 50
Paperwork and asssociated fees and overheads for record taking, pepperspray, use of police station etc. = EUR 30
Easily cost the taxpayer EUR 200.
Simply beautiful! Keep it up!
victor vella
Sep 9th 2010, 17:07
What about cost of pepper spray, cost of clerk to ssue purchase order and cost of delivery of the comodity, that sshould bring the cost up to another 100 or so.
VV Bartolo
Sep 9th 2010, 16:05
€23???
jekk tikkalkula; nofs ta' nhar paga tal-pulizija (hlieh il-qorti)
kwarta paga tal-magistrat (hela ta' hin)
u kwarta ohra mill-paga tal-klerikali tal-qorti (hela ohra ta' hin)
nahseb, ma nafx ta, ghinuni ftit ... mhux €23 gew imma min jaf!!!! eh bil-haqq u l-pepper spray!! x'ma jgholluniex it-taxxi biex jaghmlu tajjeb ghal dawn is-sentenzi banali!!
G Pace
Sep 9th 2010, 15:47
Ironikament din l-ahbar harget fil-gurnata li fiha min se jmexxi l-gustizzja ha l-gurament.
Nirringrazzja l'Alla minix Pulizija, ghax kieku llum inkun tghallimt li ghal 23 euros mhux worthed li nirriskja sahhti, specjalment biex nigi ridikolat b'dan il-mod.
Kevin O'neill
Sep 9th 2010, 15:36
A minor traffic contravention would have cost more than €23...some justice huh??
Paul Gatt
Sep 9th 2010, 15:11
Antonino Enrico Galvagno doesn't look like a Maltese person. So are foreigners now also causing trouble during our feasts?
Rachele Manunta
Sep 9th 2010, 23:01
having an usual name , does not make you a foreigner at all cost!!.... my name is unusual but this does not make me a foreigner!!
Darren Buttigieg
Sep 10th 2010, 01:42
Looks??
What a stupid comment.
John Catania
Sep 9th 2010, 15:01
wahhaahhhaahhhahhhh!!! This is the joke of the day. €23 for fighting and resisting arrest......and we are commited to stop crime.....yeah whatever. I would like to ask Inspector Elton Taliana if the accused really realised the gravity of the case...... My god from bad to worse in this country!!!!!!
A. Mamo
Sep 9th 2010, 15:00
@ Mr. Sean Tanti. Something to cheer about to all anti-festa bloggers. No, this is not a normal staff.....if it is please help me indicate another fight during our festas this summer. What is ridiculous is the fine. This month I was also fined 23 euros, not because I was involved in a fight but only because I forgot to turn on the car lights under the Kirkop tunnel! I would have preferred to be involved in a fight for the same penalty...at least I knew that I did something wrong on purpose not simply forgot to do something.
Paul Barrett
Sep 9th 2010, 15:00
In the circumstances it is a reasonable award. He did not hesitate to admit his guilt and thus saved Police time, Court time and money from the Public purse. He has a fairly heavy axe over his head for the next two years and hopefully he will learn to control both his drinking and aggressive behaviour.
As for the fine. If you are well off, Euro 23 is nothing. If you are poor, Euro 23 is a lot of money - it is all relative.
Andrew Zammit Manduca
Sep 9th 2010, 14:58
I wonder what the NEW Chief Justice as to say about this.
Adrian Cachia
Sep 9th 2010, 14:57
23 Euros? That is really a joke. It cost the Mosta Police much more to drive to Naxxar, use the spray. I assume more then 1 policeman went to the scene. Can we at least make some money out of these situations? Instead of a suspended jail term. They could have at least fined him for the costs! 500 Euros to say the least!
Mark Busuttil
Sep 10th 2010, 07:45
No Adrian, you get fined 500 euro if you say weird things about the pope. Fighting and resisting arrest is much less serious, you see.
Meh.
Stephen Koludrovic
Sep 9th 2010, 14:56
I,m sure the pepper spray hurt him more than his fine.
Dear Mr.Fenech, come on,have you considered that being hit by a baton in the wrong place could have also killed him.
Joe Fenech
Sep 10th 2010, 17:27
One could also die if he's allergic to pepper, or from a Taser buzz.
G debono
Sep 9th 2010, 14:49
U jien ax kont qed niehu drink paceville go tazza tal plastic wehilt 65 euro.
M Vella
Sep 9th 2010, 14:39
Pagan feasts,all in the name of God :0
Joe Fenech
Sep 9th 2010, 14:31
Pepper spray? What have the Maltese Police become?! Women????
Use batons and be manly!
J smith
Sep 9th 2010, 14:59
.... lets do a challenge .... you get all the batons you want and I get one tiny pepper spray (even pink if you want)...and see who's knees touch the floor first. Or else watch discovery channel, and you will save yourself much discomfort :)
alan caruana
Sep 9th 2010, 15:10
I prefer being hit with a baton rather than the pepper spray , less effective !
P.Pulis
Sep 9th 2010, 15:21
Totally agree with you.
By the way how about the latest Taser guns?
Joe Fenech
Sep 10th 2010, 10:53
What's ridiculous about the pepper spray is it's 'handbag item' image.
Now, a Taser Gun - yes, you're talking!
Brian Camilleri
Sep 9th 2010, 14:28
"having slightly injured a police constable and resisted arrest" and thats all for a mere discounted special price - EUR23 !!!!!
Mickey Mouse Justice!!
John Catania
Sep 9th 2010, 15:04
Discounted prices on every crime. Hurry up so you won't get disappointed!
Timmy Farrugia
Sep 9th 2010, 15:04
i was fined a few cents more than that for parking badly!!!
Charles Sammut
Sep 9th 2010, 15:05
I don't agree with you. One year jail suspended for two years is not to be sneezed at. This young man will have to be very careful not to fall seriously foul of the law in the next two years or in he goes. Believe me he will have to behave. And after all that is the aim.
Sean Tanti
Sep 9th 2010, 14:21
Normal stuff for the local village festas (all of them without exceptions)
And all in the name of some madonna or saint. Sublime !
J Farrugia
Sep 9th 2010, 14:38
No this is not normal stuff as you have slugded here. The police did the right thing and peppered him as should be. The only thing I object is to the fact that the police treated this matter too lightly. I would have asked for a definitive prison sentence to simmer him down and show him how civil society looks at this type of irresponsible and aggressive behaviour. So that people like Sean Tanti would then denigrate the village festa which is a religious feast not a boxing round. Ys we condemn this type of 'village idiots' since they are doing too much damage to our local feasts and yet the police treat it as a slight disturbance. He should have been jailed. For being a scandal to oen and all, and allow church bashers to continue with their litany of offences against the church.
S. Zammit
Sep 9th 2010, 14:58
I've never seen a village fight in my life, and I attended all Lija and Siggiewi feasts for the past 10years or so
Robert Callus
Sep 9th 2010, 15:02
@J Farrugia
Where you there? Who are you to say he deserved a prison sentence by just reading a couple of sentences on the newspaper? I think the inspector knows better than you the kind of aggressivenes and the intensity. If things were more serious I'm sure he would have asked for an effective prison sentence.
BTW considering your extremly judgemental attitude, not only in this comment, I really cope you don't fancy yourself as a Christian. "He who has no sin throws the first stone".... ... Now, remind me who said that.
C.Brincat
Sep 9th 2010, 20:54
@J.Farrugia
I totally agree with what Robert Callus said. You see what they want you to see; always remember this sentence when you switch on your TV set or glimpsing at the newspapers.
Also must I add that it is easy for a 'catholic' to speak righteously, believing to stand on the right side, just because one attends church [generally to compare clothing] & then point their finger & say who is to blame. Let's not forget what Christ would do in these circumstances. So please lets try to be more reflective & less judgemental.
J caruana
Sep 9th 2010, 14:13
LOL@Eur23!!! What a joke!
eric borg
Sep 9th 2010, 14:41
il pepperspray jiswa izjed minn € 23