AG’s office blunders again: Error caps Scicluna’s possible sentence

A mistake by the Attorney General’s office limited the sentence available to the judge who jailed former soldier Lorin Scicluna for eight years for grievously injuring May Malimi in a racially motivated hit-and-run.

Madam Justice Natasha Galea Sciberras said the offence carried a maximum prison term of 12 years. But prosecutors specified a maximum of nine years in the bill of indictment, binding the court to that lower ceiling.

According to the Judge, the error concerned the increase in punishment for racial aggravation.

The maximum should have risen by two degrees from the underlying seven-year limit. Instead, the prosecution increased it by only one degree.

The discrepancy emerged despite prosecutors urging the court during sentencing submissions to impose the maximum punishment.

They highlighted Malimi’s serious injuries, the racial motivation behind the attack and Scicluna’s failure to stop and help him.

Malimi was struck on 1 February 2019. Prosecutors said the impact was strong enough to shatter the vehicle’s windscreen, leaving him injured in the road.

The judge condemned the violence and took account of Scicluna’s position as a serving member of the Armed Forces of Malta when he committed the offence.

The sentence followed a jury verdict finding Scicluna guilty, by six votes to three, of grievously injuring Malimi. Jurors also unanimously convicted him of using a vehicle without registration plates.

He was acquitted of murdering Lassana Cisse and attempting to murder Malimi, Mohammed Jallow and Ibrahim Bah.

Defence lawyers argued that public anger over the murder acquittal should not influence punishment for the offences of which Scicluna was convicted.

The court also ordered the confiscation of the vehicle and payment of €6,676.32 in expert fees.