A police officer was yesterday ordered to pay more than €33,000 in compensation to a man he shot in Sliema 17 years ago.
His colleague was acquitted of all liability.
The case goes back to an incident in which Charles Azzopardi was shot at after he was stopped by plainclothes drugs squad officers Frank Sciberras and Sandro Magro in Sliema on September 19, 1995.
The officers stopped Mr Azzopardi because he was driving very slowly in the middle of the road along the Qui-Si-Sana promenade.
The officers and the victim gave different versions of what happened next but the man sped off at one point and PS Sciberras got out of his unmarked police car and shot at Mr Azzopardi’s vehicle, hitting his leg.
Mr Azzopardi said he had no idea the men were police officers and did not stop because he thought that they were criminals trying to carry out a hold up.
The officers, however, always maintained that they had identified themselves to him.
They had been assigned to the drugs squad and were patrolling the St Julians and Sliema areas that night. Both said they saw Mr Azzopardi driving very slowly in the middle of the road, which, they said, made them suspicious. For this reason, they decided to overtake him.
As they were overtaking, Mr Azzopardi made an offensive comment and the policemen blocked his path.
PS Magro, who was in the passenger seat, said he got out, identified himself as a police officer and told Mr Azzopardi to stop but, instead, Mr Azzopardi reversed and tried to drive away.
At that point, PS Sciberras also alighted and fired in the direction of Mr Azzopardi’s car.
Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti found the police officers’ version to be more credible, pointing out that the officers had been borne out by the evidence of the ballistics expert appointed by the court.
Their actions had also been exonerated by an independent board of inquiry headed by former Armed Forces of Malta Brigadier John Spiteri.
However, Mr Justice Chetcuti said the officers needed to be reasonably satisfied that Mr Azzopardi was acting suspiciously before stopping him.
Driving very slowly in the middle of the road did not give rise to a reasonable suspicion that he was in possession of prohibited substances or the proceeds of a theft.
Not all actions outside of the normal realms of behaviour entitled the police to stop a car and investigate. This was particularly the case when the police officers were in plain clothes and an unmarked car, for there was nothing to indicate their identities.
It was true Mr Azzopardi had passed an offensive comment at them but such a contravention did not give rise to the right to stop and search.
Moreover, while the police were entitled to defend society, their right to use force had to be used as a remedy of last resort, the judge pointed out.
Finally, Mr Justice Chetcuti highlighted the fact PS Sciberras had fired at Mr Azzopardi when no lives were at risk.
The court therefore concluded that PS Sciberras was responsible for the injuries suffered by Mr Azzopardi while PS Magro was exonerated from responsibility.
PS Sciberras was personally ordered to pay Mr Azzopardi €33,878 in damages.
The inquiry that exonerated the officers of wrongdoing had also found that the police force at the time did not have rules of engagement governing the use of firearms. Moreover, neither officer had received adequate arms training.