The Police Commissioner was right in dismissing a man's application for a warden's licence in view of his record, an appeals court ruled today.

Christopher Galea had applied for a licence to become a warden but it was rejected by the Police Commissioner in August 2014 on grounds of public interest.

The Commissioner of Police had observed that Mr Galea had had several brushes with the law and was thus a menace to the public.

In 2010 he was found guilty of having driven a vehicle without a licence. A year later he was convicted of having threatened and hurled verbal abuse against police officers and obstructed them in the performance of their duties.

He was also found guilty of swearing in public and of disturbing the public peace. In 2012 he was caught driving under the influence of drink or drugs.

Mr Galea was also charged for having changed the colour of his vehicle without informing Transport Malta.

Mr Galea had subsequently sought recourse before the Administrative Review Tribunal which overturned the Police Commissioner's decision. The tribunal had argued that the Commissioner should have stuck only to the criminal convictions recorded on Mr Galea's conduct sheet. Instead he had based his decision on assumptions which had not been proven, the tribunal observed.

The case went before the Appeals Court, where Mr Justice Anthony Ellul  found in favour of the Police Commissioner. He pointed out that the work of a private warden carried  many responsibilities and the Commissioner of Police was right in refusing the licence to the applicant. In so doing, he was safeguarding the public interest.

For this reason the court upheld the appeal of the Police Commissioner and denied Mr Galea the warden's licence.