Qormi man charged with damaging five vehicles whilst drunk

The man was accused of five counts of voluntary damage to parked vehicles in Misrah Bandolier in Zejtun and with insulting and disobeying police officers

A man who allegedly damaged a number of vehicles whilst drunk and then insulted police has pleaded not guilty to related charges.

Taxi driver Alex Bonnici, 28, from Qormi, was accused of five counts of voluntary damage to parked vehicles in Misrah Bandolier in Zejtun and with insulting and disobeying police officers. The incident occurred at around 1:30am Monday morning.

He was arraigned before magistrate Neville Camilleri today by Inspector Roderick Attard. Bonnici was also charged with being drunk and incapable of taking care of himself in a public place and with breaching the peace.

The accused informed the court that he would be contesting the charges, pleading not guilty.

“Maybe he had one drink too many,” conceded lawyer Franco Debono, “but here we are talking about voluntary damage, not serious charges.” He asked the court to grant the man bail.

The prosecution said it would not object to bail as long as the conditions imposed were stringent.

Inspector Attard did not ask for a curfew in view of the man’s job, but insisted that he be made to sign a bail book regularly.

After considering the facts, the charges and the law, the court upheld the request for bail.

Bonnici was ordered to sign a bail book twice a week and secure his release with a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €5,000.