Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1494347
4 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 MARCH 2023 4 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS "OBSESSED" is how a court wit- ness described a Transport Mal- ta executive accused of harassing one of his female co-workers. Albert Mark Sammut, a man- ager at Transport Malta, took the witness stand this morning as Magistrate Astrid May Gri- ma continued to hear evidence against 49-year-old Clifford Micallef from Dingli. Asked how he knew the de- fendant, Sammut said he had worked with him at the Port Security Office Transport Mal- ta in Lija in late 2021. "I noted that Mr Micallef was obsessed…" Sammut began, before being cut off by defence lawyer Albert Zerafa, who re- peated the date he had men- tioned. "He was obsessed with [the woman]," continued the wit- ness. "In the eight hours I'd spend working with him it'd be [her name], [her name],[her name]." The witness recounted that the accused would tell him stories, that "he'd go with her here and there", implying that Micallef would claim to have sexual encounters with the al- leged victim. The court asked the witness whether he had ever actually seen anything to suggest this was true. "No," he replied. Sammut said he would travel in Micallef's car sometimes on their way to outside inspections. "One time we ended up in a street in Tarxien. I asked him 'what are we doing here?', and he told me that she lived there. I said 'why should I care?'" On another day, Micallef had driven the witness to a Birkir- kara shop where the woman worked part time, looking for her. Answering a question put to him by parte civile lawyer Marita Pace Dimech, the wit- ness recalled how, during that drive, Micallef had also pointed out the woman's regular park- ing spot to him. The third time Sammut had found himself being taken on a hunt for the woman, he had told Micallef not to do so again, stating that he did not want to become involved in whatev- er was going on. "He told me 'don't worry, I have a lot of clout with the minister and the chief of staff.' One day he even showed me a conversation with Ian Borg and Jesmond Zammit on his mobile phone." Asked how the woman would react to Micallef's attention, he said she would "push him away." When Sammut would re- turn from leave, the woman would tell him that Micallef had "spent a whole day in her office." The following April, Sammut said, he had taken the deci- sion to tell his superior that he didn't want to work with the defendant any more. The ob- sessive behaviour was one of several reasons, he said. "I was his friend and I would tell him not to do stupid things and remind him that he had a wife and children… I would tell him 'you don't need this trou- ble. To stop working with him, I spoke to my superior, Prof. David Attard, and he trans- ferred me away." In June 2022 the director of the department where the woman worked, Jesmond Gri- ma, had sent for the witness and asked him about his hours. Sammut said he answered that they worked Monday to Friday. "So can you tell me what Clif- ford is doing on Saturdays and Sundays at the ports and going around cafes in the area?" the witness recalled Grima as re- plying. Sammut testified that Prof. Attard had told him that he did not want Micallef working in the Marsa port area, where the alleged victim worked. Attard had spotted the witness outside a meeting which the professor had been attending. "He told me 'if you have contact with [the woman], warn her that Clifford had just told me that wants to throw her off a cliff." Replying to a question from Zerafa, Sammut confirmed that the defendant would tell him that the woman "would chase him in her car, overtake him and take photos of him." "When he said this, I start- ed laughing and told him [the woman] doesn't even have time to eat at work." The case continues in April. Co-worker describes how Transport Malta official stalked employee he was 'obsessed with' Case against Transport Malta employee who stalked colleague continues with co-worker testifying on how obsessed he was with the woman KARL AZZOPARDI AN 18-year-old Italian stu- dent visiting Gozo's historic Ġgantija temples was caught etching his initials on one of the main doorways of the Neolithic monument. The student was visiting the site as part of a school trip, and was caught in the act by a security guard. The police were imme- diately summoned on site, and the youth was ar- raigned during an urgent session of the Gozo Court on Wednesday, where he admitted to the charges brought against him. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment suspended for four years, which is the maximum pe- riod permitted by law, and fined €15,000. Heritage Malta has un- reservedly condemned the act of vandalism. "Heritage Malta, hav- ing invested considerably over the past months in the enhancement of se- curity at its museums and sites, voices its satisfaction at the timely intervention of the security officer in- volved in yesterday's inci- dent," it said. Italian student caught etching letters on Ggantija temples 18-year-old student handed four-year suspended sentence and fined €15,000 after getting caught etching his initials on one of the main doorways of Ggantija temples