Unlicensed parker jailed for ignoring court order

An unlicensed parker who was fined and banned from entering a Valletta car park , earlier this month, after being found guilty of impersonating a parker and harassing drivers to pay him to park their cars there, has been fined and jailed for six months for breaching that court order.

Farrugia, who is not a licensed parker and does not hold a Transport Malta tag, had been posing as a parker and pestering drivers into paying him money to leave their vehicles in the Hastings area. The accused, who is well known to Transport Malta, had reportedly been ordered to leave the area a number of times, but would always return to badger more drivers, ignoring at least two court orders in the process.

Inspector Jeffrey Scicluna arraigned the man before Magistrate Anthony Vella last week, accusing him of breaching a court order, which was part of a sentence handed to him on 4 January.

His case was assigned to magistrate Joe Mifsud, the same magistrate who had handed him his initial sentence.

Inspector Jeffrey Scicluna and a police sergeant testified, telling the court how the man had already been banned from a number of streets in Valletta by the courts just days before his arrest.

Finding him guilty as charged, magistrate Mifsud jailed the man for six months and fined him €2,000, making a recommendation to the Director of Prisons to assist the man in addressing his drug problem. As the sitting drew to a close, Farrugia who was not assisted by a lawyer during the sitting, thanked the magistrate “for giving me the opportunity to leave the path I’m on.”

Inspector Priscilla Caruana Lee prosecuted.