Driver Daniel Privitera threatened police and a Lesa officer, used obscene language, and physically assaulted another driver after a minor road collision in Iklin.
Court of Magistrates (Malta) as a Court of Criminal Judicature · Magistrate Dr. Yana Micallef Stafrace LL.D. · 05 May 2026
On the evening of 21 March 2024, a minor rear-end collision occurred on Triq in-Naxxar, Iklin, involving a BMW driven by Daniel Privitera and an Isuzu van driven by Carmel Faenza. A Lesa enforcement officer (CO 554 Rodney Borg) arrived on scene and began processing the incident report. Privitera immediately demanded that Faenza be breathalysed, insisting the van driver was drunk. The Lesa officer assessed Faenza and found no reasonable suspicion of alcohol impairment — Faenza walked normally, showed no smell of alcohol, and produced his documents without issue. Privitera refused to accept this decision and refused to move his vehicle from the carriageway despite being ordered to do so multiple times, causing a significant traffic build-up during evening rush hour. He locked himself in his car and began making calls to the police depot to complain about the officers. When police units PS 1128 (Sergeant Glenn Sammut) and PC 370 (Lino Vella) arrived to assist the Lesa officer, Privitera's behaviour escalated further. Privitera directed abusive and obscene language at both the police and the Lesa officer, repeatedly swearing and shouting. He threatened to have the officers dismissed from their jobs, demanding their badge numbers and stating he would report them. He also threatened to 'strip them of their uniforms.' Critically, Carmel Faenza disclosed that prior to the officers' arrival, Privitera had physically attacked him, leaving a visible injury on his right elbow. Faenza later obtained a medical certificate confirming slight injuries. The entire incident was captured on the bodycam footage of the attending police officers. The defendant chose not to testify. The court considered the sworn affidavits and live testimony of Sergeant Sammut and PC Vella, the detailed account of Lesa officer CO 554, and the bodycam recordings. The court found the evidence sufficient to establish guilt across the multiple charges, including insulting and threatening Faenza, breaching public order, using obscene language, causing Faenza slight bodily harm, causing Faenza to fear violence, insulting and threatening public officers in the execution of their duty, and failing to obey lawful orders.
Daniel Privitera was found guilty on all seven charges: (1) insulting, threatening or injuring Carmel Faenza; (2) voluntarily disturbing public order through shouting and noise; (3) voluntarily uttering obscene blasphemous language in public; (4) assaulting Carmel Faenza causing slight injuries; (5) causing Carmel Faenza to fear violence against himself or his property; (6) insulting, threatening or causing offence to PS 1128, PC 370 and CO 554, public officers in the execution of their duty; and (7) failing to obey lawful orders given by PS 1128, PC 370 and CO 554. The court was also asked to consider security bonds in favour of Carmel Faenza and the three officers under Article 383 of the Criminal Code. Specific sentence details were not included in the available judgment text.
Criminal Code Ch. 9 — Articles 95, 221(1), 251B(1), 338(bb)(dd)(ee), 339(1)(e), 383 — public order, threatening public officers, assault, obscene language, disobeying lawful orders