An appeals court has overturned a decision to conditionally discharge a Mellieħa man – instead of sending him to jail – for running over an Australian who implied he was gay.

Alan Gauci, 36, was yesterday sentenced to 12 months in prison by Mr Justice Michael Mallia, who described the incident as a very serious case that needed to be reflected in the punishment.

The victim, Jeremy Lalic, was seriously injured when he was mowed down by Mr Gauci in Mellieħa on March 21, 2004.

The case hit the headlines last October when Magistrate Carol Peralta conditionally discharged Mr Gauci for three years after taking into account the “mentality” of Mellieħa residents, who considered a homosexual jibe to be “unacceptable”.

Mr Lalic, Magistrate Peralta heard, was being loud and abusive to customers in Zep’s Bar when he insinuated that Mr Gauci was gay in a comment made behind his back. He was then evicted by the management.

Mr Gauci told the police he was so offended by the remark that he thought the man “deserved to be run over”.

About 40 minutes later, Mr Gauci left the bar, saw Mr Lalic and ran into him with his Sunbeam car, causing him to suffer a severed nerve in his left arm.

In his judgment, Magistrate Peralta had said: “The accused lives in Mellieħa and that’s why, in his mind, he felt he had a reputation to defend in Mellieħa.

“So although, in itself, there was nothing wrong in what was said, given that the insinuation the accused could be gay was made in Mellieħa, in front of other residents, it is possible that for the accused and other Mellieħa citizens, this was unacceptable.”

In passing judgment, Magistrate Peralta considered that the law allowed for a more lenient punishment in the case of a provoked attack.

Mr Justice Mallia took an altogether sterner stand yesterday, saying Mr Gauci could never have claimed he was provoked in such circumstances as these when the victim was seriously injured.

The crime was premeditated, the judge observed. Mr Gauci spent some 40 minutes thinking about it first.

Even if the victim had said something that was really offensive, Mr Gauci’s reaction was disproportionate.

The appeal was filed by the Attorney General.

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