Man handed driving ban, fined €2,900 for riding unlicensed e-kick scooter

A 28-year-old man from Lija has been fined €2,900 and handed a driving ban after he was found guilty of driving an unlicensed and uninsured e-kickscooter.

Inspector Nicholas Vella had charged Michael Fenech Conti with having committed the offences on October 4, 2021, after the scooter he was driving had been involved in a collision with a car in Lija. Fenech Conti had been injured as a result of the incident and had already been taken to hospital by the time the police had arrived at the scene.

The vehicles involved in the accident had also been moved by that time.

Deciding the case earlier this week, Magistrate Victor Axiak ruled that it had been sufficiently proven that Fenech Conti’s e-scooter was being driven without insurance cover and without having been registered with Transport Malta.

A number of other charges were dismissed, however. With regards to the charge of having failed to affix the road licence to the scooter, the court pointed out that it could not impose the punishment established in the applicable regulations, in view of jurisprudence from the Court of Criminal Appeal which had consistently held that this punishment cannot be applied due to the fact that the legislator had failed to specify whether they were fines (multa) or fixed penalty payments (ammenda).

Fenech Conti was also cleared of the charge relating to driving against the direction of traffic, with the court noting that the police had relied solely on the version of events as described by the owner of the other vehicle, falling afoul of the best evidence rule.

The court also declared that it had not taken into consideration that which the accused might have told the police about this incident, due to the fact that he had not been given the right to consult with a lawyer before releasing his statement.

Fenech Conti was ordered to pay a fine of €2,900, payable in 29 monthly installments. He was also disqualified from holding a driving licence for 13 months.