Syrian fined for damaging bicycle

Khaled Alshlaam Almrabea, 31, of Syria and residing at Marsa, was handed a suspended sentence and fined €1000.

On 29 March 2012, at around 12:40pm, off-duty police officer Charles Pace was cycling down from Hal Far to Birzebbugia, when a vehicle sped out of a side road next to ETC. After being almost ran over, Pace shouted at the driver asking if he had not seen him cycle past. The Syrian national was behind the wheel of the car.

Upon hearing the comment, the Syrian spun the car around in a U-turn, got out of the car and walked up to the cyclist seeking revenge. Pace identified himself as a police officer, however this angered Almrabea even more. The accused kicked Pace's bicycle to the ground, whilst insulting and threatening the victim. The bicycle frame was cracked and could not be repaired. The officer said the value of his bicycle, a Canondale Taurin Trial SL, was of €2,900.

Taking the witness stand, the accused Khaled Alshlaam Almrabea claimed he was driving his vehicle when the cyclist knocked on his window and insulted him. The Syrian drove after the cyclist and asking if he knew him, however the man simply told him he was a police officer. "He did not show me any identification and in his anger he kicked his own bicycle and scratched my bumper. My panel beater estimated the damage to be around €100," the accused said.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri held that the court had witnessed the behaviour of both the accused and the alleged victim while they were giving evidence.

Based on this, the court found Almrabea guilty of damaging Pace's property but acquitted him of threatening and assaulting the officer, breaching public peace and swearing in public. The Syrian was handed a six-month jail term suspended for a year, and fined €1000. The court also issued a protection order over Charles Pace against a personal guarantee of a further €1000 by the accused.

Inspector Priscilla Caruana prosecuted.