Hit-and-run driver denies ‘flagrantly breaching ban’

Just 10 days after being released from prison for running over twin sisters, Maximilian Ciantar was yesterday again behind bars after “flagrantly breaching a driving ban”.

“What the accused is saying to society, the courts and the police is that he doesn’t care about the judgement against him”- Police Inspector

Accompanied by his family, Mr Ciantar, 21, from Marsa, who is pleading not guilty, sat emotionless in the dock as his lawyer, Joe Brincat, fought to have his client released on bail saying that his “arrest was not necessary”.

Dr Brincat also questioned how the media found out about Mr Ciantar’s arrest and asked Magistrate Marseann Farrugia to alert the Home Affairs Minister about the leak of information.

Mr Ciantar had been jailed for two years on July 27 of this year but was released from prison only three months later on October 31 because he had already served 16 months while in preventative custody. Moreover, he walked out of jail eight months early due to good conduct despite having set fire to his cell last year.

The Magistrates’ Court had also banned him from driving for 10 years but that was reduced to six months on appeal after a judge noted that he had never been found guilty of driving dangerously before and so in that regard he was a first-time offender.

During his arraignment yesterday, Mr Ciantar denied driving a pink Toyota Vitz while on a driving ban, taking the vehicle without the permission of his father, who owns it, driving without insurance and a licence and relapsing.

As the proceedings got underway, Dr Brincat contested Mr Ciantar’s arrest (he was stopped by the police in the Vitz in Ħamrun on Wednesday evening and arrested on the spot). The lawyer argued that there had been no need to keep his client under arrest for there had been cases of people facing similar charges and who had been summoned normally rather than arraigned under arrest.

A person could be arrested for any crime except under the Press Act, Dr Brincat said.

In response, Police Inspector Robert Vella insisted he followed procedure and the law to the letter and Dr Brincat enquired whether the police had a warrant for Mr Ciantar’s arrest.

The officer said that Mr Ciantar was caught “flagrantly breaching a driving ban”, at which point the lawyer repeated the question and the officer answered in the negative.

The magistrate, however, ruled the arrest lawful.

Dr Brincat asked the officer whether he had received an official complaint from Mr Ciantar’s father regarding the vehicle being taken without his permission because the law expressly laid down that such a report would be needed to proceed in court. The officer replied he did not have such a complaint.

The defence lawyer asked the officer if the police followed the provisions of Criminal Code.

At this point, Dr Brincat asked the magistrate to alert the Home Affairs Minister to the fact the media knew of Mr Ciantar’s arrest minutes after it happened. He exhibited a copy of a printout from timesofmalta.com on the arrest.

He pointed out that the item carried by timesofmalta.com included the charges and questioned the inspector on how the media happened to be on the spot when his client was arrested.

The prosecuting officer forcefully denied that the charges could have been leaked and pointed out that the charges were never mentioned in any of the media reports, adding that all were free to comment on a website.

Dr Brincat then asked for bail and for the Vitz to be released to the owner. If the car were to be kept at the police compound at Ta’ Kandja, it should be photographed because vehicles seemed to get damaged while being kept there, Dr Brincat said.

The prosecution opposed the granting of bail on grounds that Mr Ciantar had breached the court driving ban within the first 15 days of the six-month suspension period. Had he done so in the last two weeks of the ban then one could perhaps have understood the circumstances but this was a flagrant breach, the officer added.

“What the accused is saying to society, the courts and the police is that he doesn’t care about the judgement against him”, the inspector said.

The court denied both requests.