€4,200 fine and suspended sentence for drunken Paceville attack on police

A 23-year-old man has been handed a suspended sentence and a hefty fine after he committed a drunken attack on police officers in Paceville during the early hours of 15 August

In view of his guilty plea, the court handed the Sicilian a one-year jail term, suspended for two years, together with a fine of €4,200
In view of his guilty plea, the court handed the Sicilian a one-year jail term, suspended for two years, together with a fine of €4,200

A 23-year-old man from Sicily has been handed a suspended sentence and a hefty fine after he committed a drunken attack on police officers in Paceville during the early hours of 15 August.

Marco La Perna was arrested at 5am on Tuesday morning after police intervened in a disturbance in Paceville. La Perna was accused of disobeying and violently resisting police officers, attempting to intimidate them, slightly injuring a police constable, damaging a parked motorcycle and exposing himself in public, breaching the peace and being drunk in a public place.

Inspector Trevor Micallef told magistrate Josette Demicoli that the youth had told police that he had bought a round of 15 drinks earlier that night, although it was not clear whether he had consumed them all or had shared them with his companions. Inspector Micallef exhibited a medical certificate as proof of the slight injuries suffered by the police officer during the man's arrest.

La Perna pleaded guilty to the charges.

Lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell, defence counsel together with lawyer Noel Cutajar, declared that the accused was prepared to pay to repair the €680 worth of damage he had caused to the motorcycle in question.

In view of his guilty plea, the court handed the Sicilian a one-year jail term, suspended for two years, together with a fine of €4,200.

“I know it was an act of youthful folly but public officials must always be respected,” the court said, before warning him that he would be found and returned to Malta if he failed to pay the fine.

He was allowed to pay the fine in installments, but the court warned that missing a payment would result in his arrest, wherever he was in Europe, and his return to Malta where the outstanding balance would be converted to prison time.

La Perna was also ordered to pay for the damage to the motorcycle.