A man who was fined €600 for speeding with his boat in Marsamxetto Harbour had his penalty revoked after an appeals court found that the prosecution had failed to prove he was travelling faster than permitted.

Christopher Dimech, 36, was steering his boat close to the swimmers' zone beneath Tigne Point one evening in August 2014 close to 7.00pm. 

A patrol boat surveying the harbour had allegedly spotted Mr Dimech's boat as it made its way towards Msida, moving at an excessive speed while overtaking other vessels. With beacon lights flashing and siren hooting, the police boat gave chase, finally catching up with the driver as he slowed down in Msida.

The man was charged with having broken the legal limit of 10 nautical miles per hour within a restricted zone. In February 2015 he was declared guilty by a magistrate's court and fined €600, prompting him to file an appeal.

The court of appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, upheld Mr Dimech's argument that the prosecution had failed to determine the actual speed clocked up by the skipper when the police had given chase.

This verification could easily have been carried out by checking the speed gauge on the patrol boat as it chased the allegedly over speeding driver. Rather, the police had questioned Mr Dimech who informed them that his speed indicator read 15km/hr. This, the court observed, meant that his boat was being driven at 8.099nm/hr, which was below the legal limit.

Since the prosecution had failed to determine the actual speed clocked up by the gauge on the skipper's boat, the court overturned the earlier judgment and acquitted Mr Dimech thereby releasing him from the payment of the fine.