Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1522769
4 NEWS 4 MATTHEW AGIUS magius@mediatoday.com.mt maltatoday | THURSDAY • 19 JUNE 2024 MATTHEW AGIUS magius@mediatoday.com.mt Man accused of sexually assaulting 12-year-old boy at Birzebbuga square A man was remanded in cus- tody on Tuesday after being accused of groping a-12 year- old boy in a public square in Birżebbuġa. Police Inspectors John Spiteri and Andrew Agius Bonello, as- sisted by prosecutor Jennifer Polidano, arraigned Jar Anna- bi Mohammad Abdallah from Sudan before magistrate Caro- line Farrugia Frendo. Abdallah remonstrated with his interpreter in a loud voice standing in the dock before the arraignment began. The defendant, who was as- sisted by legal aid lawyer In- grid Zammit Young, pleaded not guilty to charges of com- mitting a non-consensual act of a sexual nature on the 12 year-old boy in Birżebbuġa, offending public morals and harassing the boy. Abdallah ws also accused of subjecting the victim to an uninvited act of physical intimacy and being drunk and incapable of tak- ing care of himself in a public place. Abdallah told the court that he was 22 and that he resided "outside," at Birżebbuġa. The prosecution explained that the man had no fixed place of resi- dence and was unemployed. Bail was not requested. The court upheld the prose- cution's requests for a ban on the publication of the name of the alleged victim and for a protection order in favour of the victim and members of his family. When he was asked to sign the protection order towards the end of the sitting, Abdallah once again started to shout, leading the court to warn him that if he raised his voice again he would be made to regret it. Eventually, inspector John Spiteri dictated a note in the acts of the proceedings, stating that the defendant had cho- sen not to sign the order, even though it had been translated to him by the interpreter. The magistrate highlighted the fact that a protection or- der's authority and validity emerges from the court and would be imposed regardless of whether he chose to sign it or not. The man was remanded in custody. The police investiga- tion into the incident is ongo- ing and related arraignments are understood to be a possi- bility at this stage. The accused told the court that he was 22 years old and that he resided "outside," at Birżebbuġa THE man accused of planting a homemade explosive device out- side the Labour Party Headquar- ters last month is to be assessed by psychiatrists ahead of a possi- ble insanity plea. 18-year-old David Brincat from Santa Venera wore a blank facial expression as he sat in the dock as the compi- lation of evidence against him began earlier today. He had been charged with a list of offences relating to ter- rorism and the illicit manufac- ture of explosives last month, following a police investigation into the discovery of an explo- sive device placed in a dustbin outside the Labour Party build- ing, which traced it back to Brincat. Police reportedly found TATP - a volatile homemade explosive that has been used in terrorist attacks overseas- in- side the garage where Brincat was residing. It is understood that the po- lice investigation also revealed that Brincat had plans to pro- duce and plant more explosive devices with specific targets in mind. When the compilation of ev- idence against Brincat contin- ued on Tuesday, before Magis- trate Kevan Azzopardi, lawyer Nicholas Mifsud, joint defence counsel with lawyers Mario Mifsud and Lara Attard, asked the court to order a psychiat- ric evaluation of the defendant before the compilation of evi- dence proceeded any further. The lawyer pointed out that since his arraignment, Brincat had been held in preventive custody at the Forensic Unit of Mount Carmel Hospital. Prosecuting police inspector Wayne Camilleri told the court Mile End bomb suspect A panel of psychiatrists were ordered to establish whether the accused was legally insane when he allegedly committed the crimes he is charged with