Suspended sentence for man who ejaculated on woman in bus

A court has handed a suspended sentence to a 36-year-old construction worker who had previously admitted to having committed an uninvited sex act on a female passenger on a crowded bus in July.

The arraignment of Mohammed Mahmud Dirie hit the headlines last month, after it emerged that while travelling on the packed number 14 bus from Valletta to St. Julians at around 10pm, he had taken advantage of the cramped conditions to sexually pleasure himself in public, ejaculating on a female passenger, a French tourist who happened to be on holiday in Malta.

Dirie had pleaded guilty to charges of public indecency, committing a non-consensual sexual act on a female bus passenger, subjecting her to unwanted acts of physical intimacy and other unwelcome sexual behaviours during his arraignment last month. He had been released on bail, pending sentencing.

In a judgement handed down yesterday by Magistrate Gabriella Vella, Dirije was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years. The man’s cooperation with the police, his early guilty plea and his clean criminal record were taken into account by the court in arriving at his punishment.

Magistrate Vella warned the accused of serious consequences were he to commit another crime during the operative period of the suspended sentence.

Lawyer Yanika Bugeja was defence counsel. Inspector Saviour Baldacchino prosecuted.