Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1443936
7 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 JANUARY 2022 MATTHEW AGIUS A court has been told how a man allegedly raped a Maltese wom- an with whom he had a "long term physical relationship of sorts", when she had called at his apartment in order to bid him a safe trip before he left to visit his dying mother in Sicily. The accused, a 44-year-old Sicilian deliveryman, was ar- raigned before magistrate Ra- chel Montebello yesterday. Police inspectors John Spiteri and Colin Sheldon, prosecut- ing together with lawyer Ange- le Vella from the Office of the Attorney General charged the man with rape and holding the alleged victim against her will. The court was told the of- fence had taken place during the evening of 14 January at the accused's residence in Sliema, when the woman had gone to bid him farewell as he was about to travel to Sicily to see his dying mother. The man's lawyer, Roberto Montalto, entered a not guilty plea and requested bail. He told the court the incident was an isolated one which had occurred "only once." Although the al- leged victim had not yet testi- fied, there was other evidence besides the victim's testimony, including the accused's mobile phone, submitted the lawyer. The accused was an Italian citi- zen who had been living in Malta for the past five years. Although he had no family ties to Malta, his intention was to continue to live here, said Montalto, adding the accused's employers held him in high regard and had en- gaged the lawyer on his behalf. His strongest ties were with Sicily, "our sister island, not Ni- geria," added the lawyer. He ar- gued that whilst he understood objections to bail on the grounds that the victim hadn't testified yet, in this case there were other factors at play. There had been a long-term physical relationship of sorts, said Montalto. After months, if not years, this incident had oc- curred out of the blue "like light- ning on a sunny day", he said, also submitting it had been the victim who had appeared on the accused's doorstep uninvited. "It cannot be that in every case like this, the accused must bow his head and submit to up to 15 days of preventive arrest," said the lawyer, describing the pros- ecution's case as "weak." A protection order imposed by the magistrate was another legal obstacle which would serve as a deterrent to the accused ap- proaching the victim whilst on bail, Montalto added. The prosecution objected to bail, citing the early stage of the proceedings and the fact that the victim hadn't yet testi- fied, as well as the gravity of the crime alleged. The fact that the accused lived very close to the police station had not stopped the incident from taking place, argued Vella. The accused was not Maltese, even though he had lived on the islands for a long time, submit- ted the prosecutor. "We have in- formation that the accused can- not be trusted to stay in Malta and he had no residence permit here," concluded the prosecutor. Inspector Spiteri told the court the prosecution was objecting mostly due to fear of him at- tempting to suborn their wit- nesses or escape. He pointed out the accused had plans in place to visit his sick mother in Sicily be- fore the incident. When the accused had been asked by the police how he was going to travel, as he had not had his third booster shot of the Covid vaccine, he had replied that he had a way of sidestepping the travel ban through a friend of his who works with the fisheries department. This showed he was not trustworthy, submitted the Inspector. Montalto counter-argued that the man had been desperate to visit his dying mother. Having heard submissions on bail, the court refused the re- quest and decreed that the man was to be remanded in custo- dy, soliciting the prosecution to summon its witnesses as soon as possible. Earlier in the sitting the court also upheld a prosecution re- quest for the man's name be withheld from publication to avoid secondary victimisation. COVID-19 Three men die as 379 new cases are registered 379 new COVID-19 cases were regis- tered on Tuesday, figures published by the Health Ministry show. The death of three men, aged 60, 64 and 89 while COVID-19 positive has been registered, with the number of deaths standing at 509. Active cases stand at 9,181 after 704 recoveries were registered. There are currently 107 coronavirus patients being cared for at Mater Dei Hospital, of which nine are in the ITU. Until yesterday, 1,175,136 vaccine doses were administered, of which 310,012 were booster doses. No bail for man charged with rape of female friend