TVM: 12 month jail term for Mellieha man

http://tvm.com.mt/news/2013/07/12-month-jail-term-for-mellieha-man/
TVM News 04-07-2013

Alan Gauci, 37, of Mellieha has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment after the Attorney General appealed from a previous sentence .

Magistrate Carol Peralta had heard how Gauci had ran over Australian national Jeremy Lalic after the victim had called him ‘gay’. The incident kicked off at 4:30 am, inside Zep’s Bar in Mellieha bar and when 40 minutes later he saw the Austalian, he hit him with his car. In 2004, Magistate Peralta had handed Gauci a three year conditional discharge.


The convicted had explained to the Magistrate how whilst driving home he had thought the Australian deserved to be ran over. “Anger was boiling up inside me, and when I saw him again I ran him over”, Gauci had said. During the incident the Australian had insulted various patrons and made gestures to make believe Gauci was a homosexual.

In delivering the appeal decision, Mr Justice Michael Mallia stated the convicted had enough time to ponder his decisions. “For 40 minutes he kept thinking of how to make Lalic pay for his insult rather than calm down”. The charges filed against Gauci entailed a prison term between nine months and nine years. However in its decision the court of magistrate had taken into consideration the social mentality of Mellieha residents.
The court of magistrates had claimed that Gauci as a Mellieha resident and since e incident happened inside the locality he believed he had a reputation to uphold. The insinuation that the aggressor was gay did not go down well and Gauci’s reasoning told him that other patrons did not deem homosexuality as being acceptable”.

Mr Justice Michael Mallia stated there was a long time lapse between the argument and the time of the aggression. “The convicted left the bar with revenge on his mind. The victim’s grievous injuries were definitely not the result of instantaneous passion. Moreover Gauci’s reactions was not proportional to the alleged offence”.

The court of appeal revoked the three year conditional discharge and sentenced Alan Gauci to 12 months imprisonment.