Man charged after high speed car chase

A man who led police on an 11-mile car chase two Saturdays ago was charged in court in connection with the incident today.

Andre Galea, 30, from Paola, pleaded not guilty to charges of drunk driving, disobeying a legitimate police order, dangerous driving, not being in full control of the vehicle he was driving, overspeeding, slightly injuring a police officer, refusing to submit to a breathalyser test and relapsing. He was also charged with being in possession of an illegal stun gun, which officers had found in his Vauxhall Astra.

Inspector Sergio Pisani told Magistrate Charmaine Galea that officers had seen the accused perform an illegal U-turn in Gudja on Saturday 19 September. It is understood that when pulled over by police, the accused, who is alleged to have been drinking all day up to that point, then directed a foul-mouthed salvo at the officer and sped off.

Galea then led police on a dangerous 11-mile, high-speed chase through several villages, with the accused contravening stop signs and going the wrong way down several one-way streets. The court was told that Galea tried to knock over a motorcycle-mounted policeman three times. It took a boxing-in manoeuvre by several RIU police vehicles to finally bring the car to a halt, said the inspector.

The heavily tattooed man looked subdued as he sat in the dock, spending most of the staring at the floor. Defence lawyers Giannella De Marco and Gianluca Caruana Curran requested bail, telling the court that whilst it was true that their client did not have a clean police conduct, he had paid for those crimes.

What the court was dealing with today were mostly traffic offences, said De Marco. The slight injury with which Galea was charged consisted of mere emotional shock, explained the lawyer. Nobody had raised a hand on the officer effected, she added.

The defence also pointed out that as the chase was captured on video, there was no risk of the accused tampering with evidence. At no point did he try to tamper with evidence and as soon as he was able, had gone to the police, said the lawyer.

The court was told that Galea was being held at Mount Carmel Hospital, a fact which De Marco pointed out was for treatment of a medical condition and not because of there being any drugs involved.

The court, however, turned down the request for bail in view of the accused’s criminal record and his medical condition, instead recommending the Director of Prisons to transfer him to the forensic unit of Mount Carmel Hospital until court proceedings were concluded.