The man who had two shots fired at his car by the driver of a former Cabinet minister was fined for driving carelessly and under the influence but was cleared of more than half the charges brought against him.

Magistrate Josette Demicoli ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove seven of the 11 charges brought against Stephen Smith after its main witness, the former minister’s driver, Paul Sheehan, refused to testify in court to avoid incriminating himself.

One of the bullets that hit Stephen Smith’s car.

He was found guilty of damaging the ministerial Mercedes car, driving in a careless but not dangerous manner and driving under the influence.

Mr Smith, 30, from Birkirkara, was fined €2,000 and was disqualified from holding a driving licence for nine months.

The incident in question took place in Gżira last November 19 just after 9pm when Mr Smith failed to stop after clipping the wing mirror of former Home Affairs Minister Emanuel Mallia’s car.

An inquiry had found that Mr Sheehan chased Mr Smith and fired two shots at his car. This had led to Dr Mallia’s sacking after claims of a cover-up over the shooting.

Mr Sheehan refused to testify in Mr Smith’s case as he is undergoing separate criminal proceedings where he is being charged with attempted murder.

Mr Smith had told police he had been drinking at Black Gold Bar in Gżira. On the way home, he hit the side mirror and door of a dark-coloured Mercedes parked at the side of the road. He said a man emerged from the car and told him to stop but he had driven off with the other car in pursuit and then shots were fired in the direction of his vehicle.

Stephen Smith had opted to drive even though he knew he was drunk. This is not something that could be treated lightly

Based on what Mr Sheehan told the police, Mr Smith was charged with damaging the ministerial car, driving under the influence, committing an offence against Mr Sheehan, a police constable, disturbing the peace, using offensive language in public, threatening Mr Sheehan with a Heineken glass bottle, assaulting him and disobeying his orders.

He was cleared of threatening the officer after Magistrate Demicoli found there was no evidence to prove that Mr Sheehan had told Mr Smith that he was a police officer. Since he was not wearing a uniform, there was no way Mr Smith could have known that the other person was a police officer, the magistrate said.

Mr Smith was also cleared of charges that he had threatened Mr Sheehan with the Heineken bottle as the allegation had not been corroborated in court.

On the remaining charges, the magistrate ruled that Mr Smith had admitted to drink-driving and to driving under the influence of alcohol. However, Magistrate Demicoli said, the evidence heard in court pointed to careless rather than dangerous driving.

She noted that “a miscalculation” caused Mr Smith’s Vauxhall Insignia to clip the minister’s Mercedes but this also happened because Mr Smith had opted to drive even though he knew he was drunk. This, she said, is not something that could be treated lightly.

The court heard that Mr Smith had an alcohol level in his blood that was three times the legal limit.

Police Sergeant David Sant testified that the result of Mr Smith’s breathalyser test was even more pertinent when one considered that this was taken at 2am, more than five hours after the incident.

This took place at Msida police station by a court expert on the orders of the inquiring magistrate and yielded a result of 109 per 100mg while the legal limit is 36 per 100mg.

Police Inspector Jonathan Ransley prosecuted.

Lawyers Joe Giglio and James D’Agostino appeared for Mr Smith.