A driver who broke another driver's jaw during a row at a petrol station reacted in self-defence after being racially abused, an appeals court has confirmed.
The incident happened when Shane Kayde Rowe stopped for fuel at the Skyparks service station at Malta International Airport while heading to work on August 3, 2020.
After honking his horn at a driver who was blocking access to the fuel pumps, the other man got out of his car and tapped violently on his car window.
A verbal onslaught followed, as the other driver, Mario Spiteri 52, hurled racial slurs at Rowe, saying that he was not scared “because you [Rowe] are black.”
“Do not touch my car! Step aside!” Rowe told the other man.
But when Spiteri struck Rowe on the shoulder with his “two index fingers” the accused reacted by punching the other man on the face.
Dental specialists later certified that the alleged victim had suffered a fractured jaw and in spite of several surgical interventions, suffered a persistent discomfort and a numbness of the lower lip that caused pain when eating.
He also had a 1.5% permanent debility through the loss of a pre-molar tooth.
The first court, presided over by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, concluded that the accused had acted in self defence because he felt in danger when the other man’s verbal abuse gave way to physical contact.
The accused’s attack was deemed proportional since he felt that he was in danger when confronted by the alleged victim’s frenzied reaction to the simple beeping of the horn.
However the Attorney General did not accept that conclusion, arguing that Rowe's actions were not sudden, immediate and actual.
The AG filed an appeal arguing that Rowe had “consistently persisted in seeking a confrontation with Spiteri up until the moment he pummeled [him].”
It was Rowe who actually started the confrontation when he got out of his car to face the other man for violently tapping on his car window, the AG argued.
Footage showed that the victim actually walked away when the accused loudly called out to the other driver not to touch his car and the AG said the accused took the law into his own hands.
Faced with the divergent versions of the accused and the alleged victim the Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, observed that circumstantial evidence, particularly CCTV footage, was important in corroborating the testimonies.
Upon close examination of that evidence, the court concluded that the appreciation of facts done by the first court was “safe and satisfactory.”
Citing jurisprudence on the concept of legitimate self defence, the judge observed that there was no doubt that the alleged victim’s behaviour to the beeping of the horn by the accused was “unjust.”
Evidence of that was the manner wherein he knocked on Rowe’s window “abusively” and poked the accused “unnecessarily” on the shoulder.
Spiteri’s aggressive behaviour caused the accused to fear danger and his fear showed because even when the other man was on the floor, Rowe still defended himself, indicating “how afraid he was…”
The alleged victim was going back and forth from the accused’s car to his own and that “strengthened the feeling of the accused that he was in a dangerous situation.”
In light of that evidence the court rejected the AG’s appeal and confirmed the acquittal.
Lawyer Joe Giglio was defence counsel.