Cabinet secretary cleared on appeal over drink-driving case

Cabinet secretary Ryan Spagnol has been cleared on appeal in a drink-driving case after a court ruled that an unexplained discrepancy in the breathalyser receipt created reasonable doubt about the reliability of the test.

Judge Natasha Galea Sciberras, presiding over the Court of Criminal Appeal, upheld Spagnol’s appeal and revoked the part of a Magistrates’ Court judgement that had found him guilty of three traffic offences.

Spagnol was fined €1,800 and banned from driving for six months in May 2024 after being found guilty of driving while over the legal alcohol limit, driving while unfit through drink and failing to have full control of his vehicle.

He was cleared by the first court of a separate charge of being drunk in public to the extent that he could not take care of himself. The appeal court confirmed that acquittal and went on to clear him of the remaining three charges.

The case dated back to December 22, 2023, when Spagnol was stopped at a police roadblock in Triq Tal-Barrani, Żejtun, at about 1.42am.

Police said he had red eyes and behaviour that raised suspicion that he could be under the influence of alcohol. He was cautioned, declined to consult a lawyer and was given a breathalyser test at about 1.49am.

The test indicated that he was over the legal limit. The reading was previously reported to have been 43.7 micrograms, almost twice the legal limit of 22 micrograms.

Breathalyser showed wrong time

But on appeal, Spagnol argued that the breathalyser chit showed the wrong time and had to be corrected manually by police. He said that error undermined the reliability of the machine and the validity of the result.

The court upheld that argument.

The receipt originally showed the test time as 2.59am and the “blank time” as 2.55am. Both times were corrected by hand to 1.49am.

The judge said there was no need to doubt the police evidence that Spagnol had been stopped at 1.42am and tested at 1.49am, and noted that those facts were not disputed.

But no evidence had been produced to explain why the breathalyser machine had generated the wrong times.

For a breathalyser result to be considered safe and reliable, the court said, there must be no doubt about the functionality of the device used by police.

The court cited a 2021 judgment in a similar case, where an unexplained discrepancy between the actual time of a breathalyser test and the time printed on the receipt had raised doubt about whether the machine had been properly regulated and calibrated.

Although the breathalyser receipt showed that the device had been calibrated just over a month earlier, the court said that was not enough to resolve the doubt created by the incorrect times.

This meant the Magistrates’ Court could not legally and reasonably rely on the breathalyser result to convict Spagnol of driving over the legal alcohol limit, the judge ruled.

No proof he was unfit to drive, court says

The appeal court then considered whether there was other evidence proving that Spagnol had been unfit to drive or had failed to maintain control of his vehicle.

It noted that the offence of driving while over the legal alcohol limit depends on scientific proof of the level of alcohol in a driver’s breath, blood or urine.

By contrast, the offence of driving while unfit can be proved through other evidence, such as the driver’s behaviour, physical condition, smell of alcohol, speech, walking, manner of driving or involvement in an accident.

But the court found that, once the breathalyser result was discarded, there was insufficient evidence to prove that Spagnol had been unfit to drive.

The only evidence was that he had red eyes and behaviour that raised police suspicion. The court said the police affidavit did not describe that behaviour in any detail.

Taking flu medication

The judge also noted that Spagnol had been stopped at almost 2am after a day’s work and had testified that he had been unwell and taking flu medication. He produced chats with his brother, a pharmacist, and his mother about medication and his state of health.

Spagnol also testified that, before taking the breathalyser test, he asked police whether they had stopped him because he had been driving dangerously or placed anyone at risk. According to his evidence, which was not contradicted, police told him the stop was a random road-check.

The court said there was no evidence that he had been driving carelessly, dangerously or without due care.

It also noted that Spagnol had cooperated with police, provided his details, signed a form refusing legal advice and took the breathalyser test.

The fact that he admitted having had something to drink about two hours before being stopped was not enough, without further evidence, to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the court said.

The court therefore found him not guilty of all three remaining charges and cleared him of all guilt and punishment.

Spagnol’s conviction first came to light in August 2024, three months after it was handed down, after former PN MP Jason Azzopardi posted screenshots of the judgment on Facebook.

Times of Malta reported at the time that Spagnol, who serves as Prime Minister Robert Abela’s cabinet secretary, had been found guilty of three of four charges and had his driving licence suspended for six months.

The Nationalist Party had called for Spagnol’s resignation or removal, describing his behaviour as “illegal, irresponsible and dangerous”. The Office of the Prime Minister had denied Azzopardi’s allegation that the delayed publication of the judgment had been ordered by Abela.

A later Times of Malta fact-check found that while many court judgments are published online, minor cases such as traffic offences are rarely uploaded unless a copy is requested or an appeal is filed. Spagnol had confirmed at the time that he had filed an appeal in June 2024.

Spagnol was appointed cabinet secretary in 2022, in a move that separated the role from that of the principal permanent secretary. The post is a constitutional role responsible for coordinating cabinet work across government.