Skipper's harbour speeding fine overturned on appeal

A skipper's €600 fine for speeding inside Marsamxett Harbour has been overturned on appeal after a court ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish the vessel's actual velocity.

In August 2014, 36-year-old Christopher Dimech had been stopped in his boat close to Tigne Point by a patrol boat after he allegedly overtook other vessels, while travelling at excessive speed. The patrol boat had chased Dimech's boat, sirens blaring and light flashing, to Msida creek where he slowed down.

Dimech was charged with piloting the craft at a speed in excess of the 10 knots limit inside a restricted area and eventually convicted in February 2015, being ordered to pay a €600 fine.

But in a judgement upholding Dimech's subsequent appeal against the fine, judge Giovanni Grixti noted that the prosecution had not correctly determined the vessel's speed during the chase.

The court observed that this could have been established by simply looking at the chasing patrol boat's speed indicator, but that the police had instead chosen to ask Dimech what speed he had been travelling at. The appellant had told officers that his speed gauge had been showing 15km/hr, which the court pointed out, translated into just over 8 knots and therefore below the speed limit.

The court overturned the original sentence and revoked the fine imposed.