A driver who was caught speeding ‘”gas down” in Sliema before biting, spitting on and verbally abusing police officers walked out of court with a suspended sentence today.

David-John Calleja, 30, was fined €5,000 and handed an eight month prison sentence suspended for 18 months after being found guilty of driving in a dangerous manner in Sliema as well as injuring and threatening police officers, TVM reported.

The case goes back to 25th October 2014, when Calleja was seen turning a corner at high speed.

When police flagged him to stop, he instead fled, speeding down Tower Street, even against the traffic flow.

After being caught exiting the Tignè tunnel, he became more aggressive with officers, calling a female police sergeant qaħba (bitch) when asking him to undergo a breathalyser test as he seemed drunk.

He then threatened to kill her family and get her fired from her job. Shortly after, he bit a male officer’s hand, injuring him while escorting him to a nearby police station. 

In the case of Calleja spitting on an officer, he was acquitted of disturbing the public peace in this case as the actual spitting happened inside a police car.

In court, Magistrate Rachel Montebello refuted Calleja’s claims that he was beaten by police as the constable in question was driving the car at the time.

Aside from the €5,000 fine, he was also ordered to pay €70 in compensation to the Police Commissioner, €1,880 in court expenses and was also banned for driving for eight days.

He was also told not to harass any of the officers involved in the case at risk of being fined a further €2,000.