‘Gay’ jibe man who ran down tourist walks free

A magistrate yesterday conditionally discharged a man who ran over an Australian for making gestures implying he was gay, after taking into account the “mentality” of Mellieħa residents who considered such a jibe to be “unacceptable”. Magistrate Carol Peralta yesterday found Alan Gauci, 36, from Mellieħa, guilty of causing serious and permanent injury to Jeremy Lalic on March 21, 2004. Mr Gauci had admitted to police that he ran over the victim with his Sunbeam car because Mr Lalic had insinuated behind his back that he was homosexual. Mr Lalic was being loud and abusive to customers in Zep’s Bar and was in fact evicted by the management. Mr Gauci told police he was so offended by what the victim had done that he thought to himself the man “deserved to be run over”. Driving home, he happened to spot Mr Lalic and ran him down. The victim suffered a severed nerve in his left elbow. During pleas on punishment, Police Inspector Michael Mallia said “the incident would not have happened were it not for what (Mr Gauci) believed was provocation”. Magistrate Peralta agreed said he “really believed” the officer, “especially when one considered not only the incident per se but also the...