Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1322776
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 DECEMBER 2020 NEWS Christmas specials • Crime 2020 was a universally hated year. It was another court year dominated by interminable sit- tings on uncomfortable benches as we strove to document the hair-raising developments com- ing out of the Daphne Carua- na Galizia murder compilation of evidence and public inquiry (about which more will be said in a separate article). Personally, I hated it also for the sleazy attempts to tarnish journalists' independence and impartiality and the disrepute it brought the two professions I practise – journalism and law. From a court-reporting per- spective, there was no short- age of material. It was a year of murders and mercenaries, riots and rapes, arson and Attorney Generals. Record drug seizures and some radioactive poison too. Sexual abuse Ex-Burmarrad parish priest gets three years in jail for sex- ual abuse of minors In June 2020, the former parish priest of Burmarrad, Fr Donald Bellizzi, was found guilty of sexually abusing three minors at a retreat house in 2010. He was sentenced to three years in prison, a pun- ishment later confirmed on appeal. Man jailed for drunken sex at- tack in Gozo In August a Somali man was jailed for three and a half years for committing a drunken sex- ual assault on a Polish woman in Gozo, which stopped when a third party intervened. Qrendi sex abuser told vic- tims they'll 'never see daylight again' One month after that case, a 60 year-old man from Qrendi was remanded in custody af- ter being charged with asking for sexual favours from two 13-year-old boys who were his neighbours. School minivan driver who raped 8-year-old girl is jailed for 12 years In October the courts heard a child's horrific account of be- ing repeatedly sexually abused by a school minivan driver. The driver was subsequently jailed for 12 years. Murders Rijpma gets 30 years jail for girlfriend's gruesome murder in 2018 Dutchman Jelle Rijpma was jailed for 30 years in Decem- ber after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Shan- non Mak in 2018. Mak's bru- tally beaten body was found in Triq il-Mastrudaxxi in Santa Venera, with her throat slit. Sliema double murder suspect extradited to Malta to be ar- raigned tomorrow August saw the double mur- der of Christian Pandolfino and Ivor Maciejowski, who were both shot dead inside their Sliema home on 18 Au- gust, in what police say was a burglary gone wrong. Three men have been charged with the homicides. Two charged in connection with Mqabba murder In July, another cold-blooded murder took place at Mqabba. Saviour Gaffarena, aged 27, was found dead in a car with a gunshot wound to the head in triq il-Konvoj ta' Santa Marija, Mqabba. His cousin, 17-year- old Vince Gaffarena was shot in the chest and face, but sur- vived. Two men, aged just 19 and 18, have been charged in connection with the crime. John Paul Woods confessed to murdering Charlene Farrugia from his hospital bed, court told A 12 year-old murder mystery was solved this year when John Paul Woods said he wanted to speak to a police officer to con- fess to the murder of Charlene Farrugia, 12 years prior. Farru- gia's remains had been found in the Valletta bastions after Woods directed police to the spot where they were found. 'I'll kill her... if she won't be mine, she won't be anybody's' – mother of Chantelle Chetcuti recounts murderer's shocking statement A mother of two, Chantelle Chetcuti, was stabbed to death outside a football club in Zab- bar in February. Her ex-part- ner has been charged with her murder. Ghaxaq man Salvu Dalli, 68, pleads not guilty to wilful hom- icide of son Salvu Dalli, 68, of Ghaxaq was accused of the wilful homicide of his son Antoine, 37. Antoine died after receiving a shotgun blast to the abdomen, alleged- ly fired by his father as the son tried to take money for drugs. Dalli denies all charges. International Magnum Opus: the real secret soldiers of Benghazi Maltese arms dealer James Fenech was charged last May with breaching UN sanctions after allegedly supplying boats to pro-Haftar mercenaries. Soon afterwards, MaltaToday revealed that the boats were manned by mercenaries, part of a private military operation dubbed 'Opus' which was sup- posed to equip Haftar's forces with helicopters and Private Military Contractors, in breach of UN sanctions. Fuel smugglers Operation Dirty oil suspect Gor- don Debono charged with laun- dering millions of euro Businessman Gordon Debono and his wife Yvette were charged in late November with laundering millions of euro, while associate Sean Higgins was arraigned for facilitating money laundering. They were released on bail in December against a deposit of €50,000 each, and a €150,000 personal guarantee. Corruption Vitals hospitals deal 'entirely led by Konrad Mizzi ministry' Accusations of corruption continue to follow former tourism and energy minister Konrad Mizzi around, with a judge hearing the case filed by former PN leader Adrian Delia being told that the 'deal' which saw government pumping a total of €86 million into Vi- tals Global Healthcare (VGH) by the government during the first two years of the compa- ny taking over the running of MATTHEW AGIUS Crime central Donald Bellizzi