Driver handed suspended sentence, €1,000 fine for insulting police officer near Mosta polling station

A man who argued with a police officer outside a Mosta polling station during the 2022 general election has been found guilty of insulting and disobeying the officer.

The Magistrates’ Court imposed a suspended sentence, a €1,000 fine and a protection order in favour of the constable.

Magistrate Monica Vella delivered judgment on Friday, finding Wayne Debono, 29, of Mosta, guilty on all three charges relating to the incident on 26 March 2022 in Triq il-Biedja, within the restricted 50-metre zone surrounding the Marija Regina school polling station.

According to the court, Debono had driven a passenger to the entrance, informing PC 1428 Joseph Luke Gauci that the passenger had recently undergone surgery. The officer permitted the drop-off but ordered Debono to leave the restricted zone immediately. Debono at first complied but returned moments later, reversing aggressively towards the barrier and engaging in a heated argument with the officer.

PC Gauci told the court that Debono repeatedly called him “arrogant” and “a clown”, challenged him to a fight and shouted that “the uniform meant nothing” to him. Colleagues who arrived to assist confirmed hearing the insults and witnessing Debono’s agitated behaviour. The court noted that the defence had not seriously undermined the officer’s account.

Debono denied using the words attributed to him, insisting that it was the officer who began shouting “like children”. His passenger, who had already entered to vote by the time the confrontation escalated, said he heard raised voices but could not testify about the full exchange.

The court rejected a defence plea that two of the charges were time-barred, pointing out that the accused had been served with the charges in May 2022, well within the three-month period.

In assessing the offence under Article 95 of the Criminal Code, the court emphasised established case law affirming that insults directed at an officer during the performance of duties undermine the dignity of the public function itself.

It also cited decisions confirming that legitimate police orders must be obeyed immediately, with citizens free to contest them only afterwards through lawful channels.

Magistrate Vella found that Debono’s behaviour constituted a clear failure to obey a lawful order, aggravated by insulting language and conduct that risked escalating tension outside a polling station.

Debono was sentenced to one month imprisonment, suspended for one year, and fined €1,000, payable in ten monthly instalments. The court also issued a twelve-month protection order in favour of PC Gauci, imposing an obligation of €1,000 should the order be breached.

Inspector Godwin Scerri prosecuted.