Court criticises police over missing footage but upholds man’s €1,200 fine

The Court of Criminal Appeal has upheld the conviction of a 75-year-old man who insulted police officers and disobeyed their orders, while rebuking the corps for failing to present all available bodycam footage from the incident.

Emmanuel Camilleri was fined €1,200 over an altercation that took place on 24 October 2023, near the bus terminus in Rabat, Gozo.

Camilleri had originally faced eight charges, including littering, using obscene language, insulting and obstructing police officers, refusing to give his details, disobeying lawful orders, and causing minor damage to property belonging to inspector Gabria Gatt.

In February this year, the Magistrates’ Court acquitted him of littering, damaging property, and violently resisting arrest, but found him guilty of using obscene language, insulting officers, refusing to identify himself, and disobeying lawful orders.

Camilleri appealed the decision, arguing that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

During the appeal, the court stressed that the standard of proof in criminal cases requires the strongest available evidence, including police body camera recordings. Video footage from bodycams was withheld despite multiple officers admitting their cameras were on during the incident.

According to testimony, Camilleri was collecting bottles in the area when he threw a cup onto the ground.

After inspector Gatt ordered him to pick it up, he allegedly used obscene language and refused to cooperate. When officers moved to arrest him, he resisted and continued to hurl verbal insults at several members of the police, including superintendent Joseph Hersey, inspector Gatt, PS John Grima, and PCs Joseph Cini and Carm Gatt.

The court noted that both the symbolic and factual elements of two major accusations—insulting public order and refusing to obey police orders—were not adequately established and described the whole incident as "a storm in a teacup."

Furthermore, the court referenced its own earlier rulings, stating that the order given might not even have been justified since the cup in question had not been thrown on the ground by Camilleri himself.

The court held that the circumstances examined in the case remained the same as those assessed by the Magistrates’ Court, and therefore it did not feel there was any need to change the sentence imposed, especially given that the Magistrates’ Court had not sentenced the appellant to imprisonment.

In light of this, the court agreed with the decision reached by the Magistrates’ Court and confirmed it in its entirety. It also granted the appellant the facility to pay the fine in monthly and consecutive instalments of €50.

Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera presided over the case.