The owner of a family-run transport business had his operator’s licence revoked after he admitted to employing a school transport driver whose name was on the sex offenders’ register.

Renè Zammit, 47, of Balzan, who owns Silverstar Transport Services Limited, was fined €15,000 and had all his licences withdrawn for employing sex predator John Vella.

Mr Vella’s name was included on the sex offenders’ list in March when he was convicted of defiling children.

Mr Vella, 66, from Birkirkara, was fined €3,000 and had a two-year suspended jail term extended by a further four years after he admitted to breaching the conditions of a court judgment handed down in March, when he was ordered to stay away from children.

One of the conditions of his suspended jail term was that he could not be engaged in work that brought him into direct contact with children.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech heard that the police began investigating the case when Mr Vella, whom they recognised, was spotted driving Silverstar’s minibuses transporting children.

The police approached him and took his driver’s tag. They also went to Mr Zammit to inform him that Mr Vella could not be allowed to transport children or minors, because he was officially listed as a sex offender

However, Mr Zammit still sent Mr Vella on a school trip the following morning, last May 31. He was stopped by traffic police at 7.30am in Msida.

Sent on school trip day after police stopped him

Mr Zammit and Mr Vella were charged with a string of offences, including using a van to transport schoolchildren when it was not licensed for that purpose.

Mr Vella alone was accused of having been employed in the transport of schoolchildren when, as a person whose name appeared on the sex offenders’ register, he was not permitted to work in a job that brought him in contact with children.

He was also accused of having failed to notify Transport Malta of his conviction and of having committed the crime during the operative term of the suspended sentence handed down in March.

Mr Zammit was charged with having employed Mr Vella to transport schoolchildren in breach of the Child Protection Act and with having failed to keep proper records of his business. He was also accused of having breached the conditions of a previous court sentence.

Mr Zammit and Mr Vella pleaded guilty to all the charges brought against them. In handing down judgment, the magistrate noted that neither of the two had learnt from their mistakes. Mr Vella committed an offence just five months after having been given another chance, while Mr Zammit breached the law again just four months after he had been found guilty in a different case.

Mr Zammit had been in and out of court in connection with offences related to the transport industry since 2005, the court noted. The latest decision was in April.

This latest crime, she pointed out, could have had far worse consequences.

The court noted that although Mr Vella knew he could not be anywhere close to children, he still decided to work in an industry where they were present.

“He learnt nothing from his mistakes and persisted in embellishing his already voluminous criminal record,” the magistrate said, adding it was only because of his age that Mr Vella was not going to jail.

Police Inspector Sergio Pisani acted for the prosecution.

matthew.xuereb@timesofmalta.com