A man who drove his van at speed down a street in Mġarr, hitting his uncle-in-law, had not intended to injure the victim, despite a history of tension between them, a court found today.  

Joseph Bugeja, 50, from Mġarr, had pleaded not guilty to having attempted to put the life of Martin Chetcuti in manifest danger and to having driven in a dangerous and negligent manner. The man was further accused of having, in the months preceding the incident, harassed his victim.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit heard how years of strained family relations had caused tension between the two men. The accused had reportedly been irked by the fact that his wife had, some four years earlier, sought refuge at his aunt's house. She had also allegedly claimed that she was suffering at the hands of the accused.

The two men also had an ongoing dispute over a wall close to their residences which the accused allegedly intended to pull down in spite of Mr Chetcuti's opposition. 

On the morning of March 26, 2014, Mr Chetcuti had taken photos of the wall intending to present them to MEPA and was making back his way down Triq iċ-Cagħaq at around 8.45am when the incident happened.  

Mr Chetcuti was hit, possibly by the side-mirror of the van, as the accused drove on, causing his victim slight injuries.

The court, after hearing the testimony of all parties involved and also after scrutinizing CCTV footage of the incident and reports by court experts, concluded that the accused had not swerved to intentionally hit his victim.

The court declared that it was morally convinced that the accused had lacked the necessary criminal intent to deliberately place the life of his uncle in clear danger. Driving down a street which he knew to be closely monitored by security cameras and also in the presence of pedestrians, the accused had acted under an error of judgment when he drove straight on.

However, the court stated that there was no doubt that the accused had been driving negligently and in a dangerous manner, given the width of the street and the presence of pedestrians at the time of the incident.

The ongoing dispute between the parties also revealed a course of conduct which proved that Mr Bugeja had indeed harassed his victim.

For this reason, the court declared the accused guilty of dangerous driving and harassment and fined him €232. It also suspended his driving licence for three months and ordered him to cover court expert expenses amounting to €2,442.54. A Protection Order for three years was also issued in favour of the victim.

Inspector Edmond Cuschieri prosecuted.