A bus driver was given an eight-month jail term suspended for two years after admitting to sexually harassing a young woman passenger by touching her legs and kissing her on the lips.
Mario Farrugia, 58, from Rabat admitted harassing the 29-year-old Venezuelan passenger on the bus on Friday at about 9.30pm in Birkirkara.
He was also charged with doing so in a public space since it was a bus used for public transport.
Noticing that Mr Farrugia had apologised for his actions and cooperated with the police, Magistrate Josette Demicoli handed down a suspended jail term, fined him €480 and ordered him not to approach the woman for a year or face an additional fine of €500.
He apologised for his actions and cooperated with the police
Police Inspector Luke Bonello prosecuted. Lawyer Yanika Camilleri represented Mr Farrugia.
This is the third time recently that bus drivers made headlines for the wrong reasons.
Last week, Times of Malta reported that a bus driver was suspended after a British woman uploaded a YouTube video showing him driving as his steering wheel was coming off.
The video, posted by Karen Billen, who has relatives in Malta, showed the burly man driving down Rabat’s Saqqajja Road while struggling with a flimsy steering wheel, which started to come off.
Transport Malta – which took over the public transport service from Arriva in January – said it identified the vehicle and the driver as being employed by one of its subcontractors.
It said both bus and driver had been immediately suspended from service.
A few days earlier, Transport Malta announced it had suspended another driver and opened an internal inquiry after he was caught mocking an elderly woman with goat calls.