A man has been spared two years in jail after the time of the crime he was accused of committing was incorrect.

Renowned criminal Keith Pace was convicted of driving dangerously and disobeying police orders at 6.20pm on October 31, 2019 when, all the evidence, including that of the police officer who had stopped him, referred to an incident that happened at 3.30pm.

Mr Justice Neville Camilleri upheld arguments by the defence that the prosecution had not requested a correction in the charge sheet and that, given such a discrepancy, the first court could have never declared guilt.

Pace, a 44-year-old car dealer, was stopped by a police officer in Santa Venera because he was on his mobile phone while driving. The officer asked him for his details but, instead of supplying them, he sped off, leading to a car chase.

He was eventually stopped again where he began offending the officer and even threw the citation on the ground.

He was charged with a string of traffic and littering offences. He was cleared of many of the charges, including that of using a mobile phone while driving, since they were time-barred, but was convicted of dangerous driving, threatening the officer and littering. He was fined €1,440, had his licence suspended for five months and had five penalty points docked. He was also sentenced to two years in jail after the court brought into effect a suspended sentence.

He appealed the decision, saying the first court could have never found guilt with such a mistake on the charge sheet.

In 2021, Pace was spared 30 months in jail after an appeals court offered him a lifeline because he was rehabilitating himself

Mr Justice Camilleri upheld this argument, ruling that the court did not have an evidence on anything that happened at 6.20pm. He noted that the prosecution did not attempt to fix its mistake so the court had no option but to clear Pace of all the charges brought against him.

In 2021, Pace was spared 30 months in jail after an appeals court offered him a lifeline because he was rehabilitating himself and was on the right track. 

He has a 21-page conviction booklet over a variety of offences since his first court case two decades ago.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Adreana Zammit were defence counsel.