A convicted fraudster who tried running over his aunt has seen a three-month jail term converted to a €2,500 fine after a court found that he was not driving dangerously during the incident.
Duncan Buttigieg, 33, from Għaxaq, was found guilty of trying to seriously injure his aunt, Grace Fenech, when he drove his BMW in her direction in August 2012. The court heard there has been a long-standing family feud, lasting more than two decades.
The court heard that Mr Buttigieg sped past Ms Fenech while she was crossing the road. Mr Buttigieg had his mother as his passenger at the time of the incident.
Ms Fenech was not hit because she hastened her pace when she saw what was happening. She also told the police that after he had missed her, he stopped the car and laughed.
Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, presiding over the Court of Criminal Appeal, heard the defence argue that there was no evidence that Mr Buttigieg had been driving dangerously.
He heard how Mr Buttigieg denied being behind the wheel and even stated that he had no driving licence. But Mr Justice Grixti said there was no reason to doubt the version given by Ms Fenech.
Describing Mr Buttigieg as “highly irresponsible”, the court, however, said there was no evidence to prove that the driving had been dangerous. To this end, it confirmed the part of the first judgment where he was found guilty of driving without a driving licence or insurance cover but declared him not guilty of dangerous driving. It therefore converted the three-month jail term into a €2,500 fine.
Mr Buttigieg, a serial fraudster who has a number of jail sentences awaiting confirmation on appeal, was recently jailed for 30 months after inventing a story about a knee surgery to trick a man into giving him €3,400 which he said he needed for an operation at St James Hospital.
He also has a nine-year prison sentence at appeal stage after he was convicted of playing the part of a bogus car dealer to collectively defraud his victims of more than €120,000 by demanding deposits for the importation of cars from the UK.