Bar owner fined over €17,000 following noise complaints
One resident was forced to shut her doors and windows and wear headphones in a bid to escape the noise
The owner of a St Paul’s Bay bar has been fined over €17,000 for excessive noise, which disturbed and harassed residents in the area.
A resident explained that she had to put up with excessive noise from the pool area of the hotel where the bar is located, while at night, the noise came from the bar. The resident presented footage of the day, indicating where the noise originated.
She reported excessive noise three times in October 2023, the same number in June 2024 and once in July 2024.
Summers were unbearable to the point that she thought about selling the house, she said.
“It is impossible to take daily videos,” the resident told the court, adding that while she was aware that she bought a property in Buġibba – a popular nightlife location – it was unacceptable that she could not have a conversation with someone on her balcony.
The bar also regularly featured performers, including an Elvis Presley impersonator, she said, adding it was a daily occurrence.
“During wintertime it’s less, but sometimes he would place the speakers outside and get a singer to sing to the customers eating at the restaurant,” the witness recalled, adding that she could not enjoy her property, and that her children could not sleep due to the excessive noise.
The woman testified that she felt like a prisoner in her own house and that she would have to close all her windows and doors and wear headphones.
Mario Ciappara, on whom Watson’s Bar is registered, faced ten different cases related to excessive noise and loud music. He denied the different charges.
On Friday, the court delivered ten different judgments on excessive noise generated either from Watson’s Bar or the Euroclub hotel, of which the bar is part.
In court, it transpired that Ciappara was the licensed owner of Watson’s Bar in his own name. The bar was classified as a Second Class Bar and did not have any special conditions or permits, apart from the standard conditions associated with this type of licence.
The court remarked it could not speculate on how it was possible that the hotel was registered in Ciappara’s name through Watson’s Holidays while the bar, which was part of the hotel, was in Ciappara’s own name.
The court held that there was no issue that Ciappara was criminally responsible since he runs the bar.
In one of the cases, he was fined €7,500, while in two other cases he was fined €5,200 in each case. He was handed an administrative fine of €58.23 for one of the complaints and was acquitted on the rest.
In the judgments, where Ciappara was found guilty, the court said that at this stage, the court will be giving a pecuniary punishment.
While it stopped short of suspending or disqualifying the man from holding any licence, the court ordered Ciappara to ensure the residents were no longer and to ascertain that there was no excessive noise coming from the bar.
Magistrate Nadia Helena Vella presided.
Police inspector Warren Galea prosecuted.
Lawyer Robert Piscopo assisted the residents.