A drunken young man who went on a wrecking spree on a Paceville street, jumping on cars and injuring a policeman, was jailed for nine months on Wednesday.
The case happened in the early hours of August 16 when Spaniard Jon Vila Jauregui, 21, damaged five cars that were parked on Triq is-Sur Fons. He also slightly injured a police officer as he violently resisted arrest.
Jauregui was accused of causing wilful damage to third-party property, insulting, threatening and slightly injuring a police sergeant, violently resisting arrest and being drunk in public.
He pleaded guilty.
When delivering judgment, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech said that the facts of the case fell squarely within the relative provisions of the Criminal Code.
When meting out punishment, she noted the accused’s early guilty plea, his cooperation with investigators and his criminal record.
Jauregui had come to Malta to work as an events promoter but chose to damage third-party property simply for the fun of it and because he wanted to, the magistrate said.
He had admitted that on the day of the incident, he had been drinking heavily, but this was no excuse to exonerate an adult from the consequences of his own actions.
The court, she said, wanted to send out a clear message that it would not tolerate violence against police officers or members of the forces of order.
Although the punishment was to take into account the defendant’s early admission, it also had to reflect the gravity of his actions.
He had attacked those “who risk their life to safeguard society by enforcing laws which society itself created to protect itself against criminals like the accused.”
“There is no place for the law of the jungle in Malta,” said the court.
Those who were not willing to behave properly, in a civilized manner, must face justice. Anti-social persons had no place in society and whoever thought himself above the law would be put in place by the law itself.
The court condemned the youth to a nine-month effective jail term and a fine of €5,000 which, if not paid, would be converted to imprisonment.
He was also ordered to reimburse the victims for the damages caused which totalled over €3,000 and to pay €484.80 in court expert expenses.
Inspector Roderick Attard prosecuted.