Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1498412
NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 MAY 2023 MATTHEW AGIUS THREE men have been charged in connection with a brawl at their residence in Birkirkara which left a man with grievous injuries to his face and hands. 24-year-olds Dampha Tau- man and Kah Abdoulie and 26-year-old Musa Bayo, all of whom come from Gambia, were arraigned before magis- trate Donatella Frendo Dimech on Tuesday by Inspectors Clay- ton Camilleri and Andrew Agi- us Bonello. The men were accused of at- tacking and grievously injur- ing the victim at a residence in Birkirkara, the theft, aggravat- ed by violence, place and time, of a mobile phone and other objects, uttering insults and threats and recidivism. The assault, which left the victim with fractures to both of his hands and lacerations to his face and back, is believed to have taken place after a dispute arose about the prostitution of a woman, who is also the girl- friend of one of the defendants. The persons involved in the brawl are understood to have given the police very different, conflicting, versions of what happened during the eventful night of April 30. The men all pleaded not guilty to the charges. Lawyer Franco Debono, ap- pearing for Bayo, requested bail. Inspector Camilleri objected, pointing out that the man fre- quented the same areas as the victim, and expressed doubts as to whether Bayo actually resided at the Qawra address which he provided to the court. Bayo's employer took the stand to vouch for him. "I can vouch for him. He's trustwor- thy, well-behaved, educated…I joke that he's like the sun, he's so reliable." The prosecution reiterated its fears of the man absconding or attempting to suborn the ci- vilian witnesses, who used to share a residence with him. Lawyer Mario Caruana, rep- resenting Tauman and Abdoul- ie, informed the court that he would not be requesting bail, as they were unable to provide an address. The court released Musa on bail, which was secured against a deposit of €500 and a person- al guarantee of €6,500, impos- ing a curfew, and ordering him to sign a bail book on 3 days every week. The court ordered the other two men to be remanded in custody. Three charged over Birkirkara assault which left man with two broken hands, lacerations Nurses' industrial action forced 503 surgeries to be postponed Magistrate says its Criminal Court's competence to decide on continued arrest of ex-boxer KURT SANSONE INDUSTRIAL action by nurses last month caused the postponement of 503 surgeries, Health Minister Chris Fearne told parliament on Tuesday. He said several phlebotomy and wound treatment appointments at health centres were also cancelled as a result of the industrial unrest. Fearne was replying to a parliamen- tary question by Opposition MP Ian Vassallo Hagi on the impact the strike action had on patient services. The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses ordered industrial action last month after talks with government on a new collective agreement faltered. The union rejected government's pay proposals and ordered widespread in- dustrial action across all hospitals and health centres. The MUMN later suspended in- dustrial action pending the outcome of a members' vote on the pay pack- age. Government's proposals were overwhelmingly shot down with 98% of nurses present for the union's ex- traordinary general voting against. Industrial action remains suspended as the union seeks improved pay pro- posals from the government. A magistrate has abstained from examining a former boxer's claim that his continued preventive custody, five months after being charged with robbing an elderly person at knifepoint, was illegal. 43-year-old Sean Sinclair Pace had been denied bail during his arraignment in De- cember last year when he was charged with aggravated theft and detaining a per- son illegally. This morning, lawyer Jose Herrera filed a habeas corpus application on Pace's be- half, claiming that his continued deten- tion was illegal. Because such applications are always ur- gent in nature, a sitting was held this af- ternoon before duty magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech As the stage reached in the proceed- ings against Pace did not emerge clearly from the acts of the case, the magistrate sent for Criminal Court registrar Franklin Calleja to testify about their status. Calleja informed the court that the acts were cur- rently being examined by the AG and in fact, the case file had been delivered to the court for this sitting from the Office of the Attorney General. In a decree handed down sometime later, the magistrate abstained from taking the request further, observing that the acts of the case had been sent back to the Attor- ney General on April 13. She pointed out that the Criminal Code stipulated that ap- plications filed in connection with a com- pilation of evidence whose file was being examined by the Attorney General, before the Bill of Indictment is issued, the appli- cation had to be filed before the Criminal Court.