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7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 29 NOVEMBER 2023 NEWS Debono granted bail secured by €5000 deposit and a €15,000 personal guarantee CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Debono was charged with attempted murder and other charges in connection to the in- cident. He had first been granted bail several months after his arraign- ment, secured by a €10,000 de- posit and a €40,000 personal guarantee, but was rearrested in May 2019 while driving in breach of his bail conditions. A month later, Debono was sentenced to imprisonment for 5 years for breaching his court-imposed driving ban and a probation order, driving without a licence or insurance and recid- ivism. He was also banned from driving for 10 years and lost the money pledged as bail security. His trial for the attempted mur- der case had to be postponed af- ter Debono filed a constitutional case, claiming to have suffered a breach of his fair trial rights due to the fact that his previous law- yer had not renounced his brief in time for Debono to appeal his conviction. A request to postpone the tri- al until the conclusion of the constitutional case, filed by Debono's new legal aid lawyer, was upheld. Schembri, now assisted by lawyers Mario Mifsud, Nicho- las Mifsud and Colin Galea, had subsequently filed a fresh appli- cation for bail to the Criminal Court. Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, heard various witnesses testify in connection to that re- quest. Debono had found a job and would start employment upon release and a fixed place of res- idence was offered by a third party. A psychologist who had mon- itored Debono since 2018 told the court that he had changed a great deal, was always attending his appointments, demonstrat- ing an interest during his ses- sions and had shown improve- ments to his behaviour. He had also "learnt to wait," she said, adding that Debono was being monitored by care workers, who had set up a care plan for him. Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera noted that while Debono had been convicted of breaching bail in the past, he had also been punished for it and that the court had heard testi- mony confirming his newfound maturity. The judge upheld Debono's request for bail, ordering his release from arrest, secured by €5000 deposit and a €15,000 per- sonal guarantee. He was ordered to sign a bail book daily and ob- serve a curfew. The court pro- hibited him from driving whilst on bail. Lawyers Mario Mifsud, Nich- olas Mifsud and legal procu- rator Colin Galea represented Debono. Liam Debono THE arrest of a 38 year-old man who was charged with breaking into a residence and threatening a woman with a knife and fire- arm while accusing her of steal- ing a thousand euros worth of cocaine has been declared illegal because the police had failed to inform the duty magistrate of the arrest within the six hour pe- riod laid down by law. Reno Azzopardi was ar- raigned under arrest before magistrate Leonard Caruana on Tuesday, accused of coer- cion, possession of a firearm without a licence, carrying a knife in public without a per- mit, breaking into a residence, uttering insults and threats and recidivism. The court heard police In- spector Gabriel Kitcher explain that at 4:30am on Monday, of- ficers had reacted to a report by a woman who had found Azzo- pardi waiting for her inside her friend's house in Bormla. The defendant accused her of stealing 1000 sachets of co- caine, pulling out a knife and then a pistol from a black brief- case to intimidate her and her friend. But Azzopardi fled the scene the moment the woman called the police on her mobile phone. Although no weapons were found when police searched his residence, Inspector Kitch- er said he had to be arrested to protect the woman. Cross-examined by defence lawyer Franco Debono, the prosecutor confirmed that the defendant had been arrested at his home at around 5:20am and that the police had informed the duty magistrate of this at around 11am, although the exact time at which the mag- istrate was told had not been officially recorded. Debono submitted that the description of "around 11am" could mean that it happened at 11:30am, at which point the six-hour time window for in- forming the magistrate of the arrest would have been exceed- ed. The court agreed with the defence's submissions and de- clared the arrest invalid. After Azzopardi entered a plea of not guilty to the charg- es, the court issued a protec- tion order in favour of the al- leged victims The defendant did not reply to any other questions put to him in court on Tuesday and did not provide his details to the court, but as his arrest had been declared invalid, no re- quest for bail was necessary. The case against him will now continue by summons. Inspector Gabriel Kitcher is prosecuting. Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb are defence counsel. Police error renders arrest of man accused of threatening couple with knife and pistol invalid MATTHEW AGIUS magius@mediatoday.com.mt The police did not officially record the time when they informed the duty magistrate of azzopardi's arrest