A criminal court of appeal has acquitted a police officer of any involvement in the alteration of a report drawn up by investigators in relation to the 2014 shooting incident by Paul Sheehan, also a member of the police corps and formerly a driver of Minister Manuel Mallia.
Police Sergeant Leeroy Balzan had been targetted by criminal action upon allegations of having been the hand behind the deletion of details in the original version of arrest report relative to Stephen Smith, the driver of the Vauxhall against which Mr Sheehan had aimed his two shots.
An inquiry set up to investigate the shooting incident had concluded that the minister’s driver had fired two shots at the Vauxhall, and that there had been a cover-up attempt by individuals close to Paul Sheehan to hide the facts of the case.
This alteration of the original report took place on November 22, via a computer at the Sliema Police Station and the fact was attributed to Sergeant Balzan.
In the course of criminal proceedings before the Magistrates’ Court, the accused was cleared of computer misuse, preventing the input of data, changing, deleting or adding official data, committing crimes damaging to the government, prejudicing his senior and committing a crime he was duty bound to prevent.
He was, however, found guilty of giving internal passwords to unauthorised persons, interfering with a government service and was handed a one-year conditional discharge.
Defence lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri argued on appeal that the practise of sharing passwords with new constables had been necessary for the police to do their work and demanded that their client be acquitted of all accusations.
The defence had pointed out that once logged in, the system would automatically log a user out after 20 minutes of inactivity, but that this timer would be reset every time the mouse was moved or a key pressed. This meant that the system could be logged in on a single username for hours at a time.
The court, presided over by Madame Justice Edwina Grima, observed that the Police themselves had ordered the new recruit to use another officer’s password. Moreover, the practise of sharing passwords had long been rife in the force at the time and no internal or judicial proceedings had been taken against any other officer for having done so.
The officer had been found guilty on his own admission of allowing an orderly to access the system using the sergeant’s login because he had not yet been issued one of his own.
Indeed, a number of high ranking police officials had testified that there was no alternative to such sharing of passwords, as otherwise there would be a backlog of reports to input.
Pronouncing itself as “somewhat perplexed” as to why, in spite of knowing of such widespread practice of password sharing which apparently had “the blessing of the highest officials in the police corps”, the prosecution had instituted action against the officer, the court cleared Leeroy Balzan of all wrongdoing.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri assisted the appellant.