Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/229731
6 News maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2013 DJ Banana gets 3-month driving ban over argument with wardens CHRIS MANGION MARIO Mifsud, popularly known as DJ Banana, was conditionally discharged and had his driving license suspended for unintentionally injuring a traffic warden. Mifsud, 49 of Pembroke, was stopped by two wardens for using his mobile phone while driving. As judgement was handed down, Mifsud broke down in tears, saying he had a seven-year-old autistic son whom he needed to drive to school every day. "If my license is suspended for three months, who will drive my son to school?" Mifsud told the court's magistrate. However Magistrate Edwina Grima replied that judgement had been delivered and would not be changed. Prosecuting inspector Spiridione Zammit told the court how traffic wardens Alicia Cianco and Maria Mifsud had stopped him while he was on his mobile phone. After being issued with a contravention ticket, the accused took a photo of one of the wardens talking on their mobile inside her vehicle and sped off from the scene. The wardens gave chase, stopped the accused and warden Alicia 23-year-old acquitted of involuntary homicide CHRIS MANGION A 23-year-old man from Zejtun was acquitted of involuntary homicide after the only evidence exhibited by the prosecution was a statement which the court discarded, and establishing that the victim had knowingly contributed to his own death. The case dates back to 2006 when the accused was 16 years of age. As had already happened on at least 10 previous occasions, the accused purchased heroin from third parties to share it with a friend. The drugs were paid for by both youths. On 25 February, the youth and a friend of his, also 16, shared a dose of heroin, however the friend suffered an overdose and died. Inspector Anthony Cassar told the court that doctors from the Emergency Department had been called in to assist a teenager who had suffered an overdose in an apartment in Marsascala. The resuscitation procedure was initiated at the apartment after which he was placed on Active Life Support at St Luke's Intensive Care Unit. The young man however died two days later, with the autopsy report concluding he died as result of the overdose. During the course of the investigation, the police spoke to both the victim's father and brother. The brother said he knew his brother and the friend had been under the influence of drugs when he saw them near the Zejtun Church. "I recognised the symptoms because I had the same habit," the brother told the police. The two went to the brother's apartment but when he came out of a shower the victim had turned purple. The brother administered three hits of saline solution that brought the victim around, and he left him on the bed to rest. However in the early hours of the morning, the victim started foaming at the mouth and the brother called for medical assistance. The victim's father told investigators he had kicked one of his sons out of the house because of the bad company he frequented. Before leaving for work he had warned the 16-year-old to behave well. At 4am, he was told to go to hospital. The accused was also arrested and released a statement owing up to having purchased four sachets of heroin from a man known as 'Eric il-Bambocc'. Together with the victim they split the drug in four injections, took two and hid the rest in a place known as ilGibjun. As soon as the accused injected the drug, he felt different to previous times and warned the victim about it, but they went their separate ways. When the accused later went to fetch the remaining drugs he noticed that the victim had already collected the two remaining syringes. He did not see the victim again. The defence counsel argued the police had taken a statement from a kid without providing him with any assistance, nor informing his parents about the arrest. Lawyer Roberto Montalto called on the court to ignore the police statement as it was taken from a vulnerable person. An on site inquiry was carried out by investigators. The court upheld the request saying the accused had been nothing more than a 16-year-old kid at the time of the incident. The prosecution also failed to exhibit a statement under oath the accused had released during the Magisterial Inquiry. Magistrate Miriam Hayman concluded the only proven fact is that the accused and the victim knew each other well, and the victim suffered an overdose while at his brother's apartment. The court also held the charge of drug possession was not proven by the prosecution. In her conclusions, Magistrate Hayman held the victim had contributed to his own demise as no one forced him to abuse drugs. "The two were in agreement and one paid a very high price for his habit. However the victim was no stranger to the world of drugs as his sibling was already in court over drug related charges. The court acquits the accused and hopes he learns from this experience and amends his own ways." Lawyer Roberto Montalto appeared for the accused. Cianco approached him, demanding he deletes her photo. While both parties were gesticulating and arguing over the issue, the accused unintentionally hit the traffic warden, causing her slight injury. Mifsud was also charged with disobeying a public officer, refusing to give his particulars to the wardens, and driving in a dangerous and negligent manner. He pleaded guilty as charged. Mifsud's pleas for a change in punishment were rejected. Inspectors Spiridione Zammit and Frans Micallef prosecuted while lawyers Yanika Bugeja and Dean Hili appeared for the accused. Mario Mifsud, aka DJ Banana, also presents Motordrome – a TV programme very popular amongst motorsports enthusiasts Court berates Exotique owner for pursuing lawsuit against Thea Court rejected an application filed by Grace Borg and Andrea Milana, on an alleged breach of contract by Thea Garrett, winner of the Malta Song Festival in 2010 CHRIS MANGION THE owners of Exotique Record Label, Borg and Milana, had also filed against national television station PBS, claiming that the station had breached the same contract. Garrett had represented Malta in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'My Dream'. Borg and Milana demanded royalties on the song. Mr Justice Anthony Ellul decreed that the young girl was still at the start of her musical career and that the claims with which the record label owners had enticed the young girl had led to nothing but tribulations and anxiety for the singer and her family. The allegations filed by Borg and Milana led to the loss of sponsorships from GO plc and Debenhams. "Such behaviour does not bode well for Grace Borg, who previously claimed it was she who discovered the singer, and yet still proceeded to file a lawsuit against her," the judge said. Grace Borg Ellul said Borg had been "triggerhappy" about suing the singer at time when she was supposed to be rejoicing for her success. "Grace Borg could not expect to be included in the events following Garrett's success in the local festival as Borg herself had objected to the singer's participation with the winning song. The record label owner had insisted Thea Garrett that Garrett sings a different song written by German composers." The court concluded that neither Grace Borg nor Andrea Milana had proved they owned any intellectual property rights over Thea Garrett or her song 'My Dream', and that the singer had not signed any exclusive artists management agreement with Exotique Record Label. Woman grievously injured in Casino fight EMANUELE Cassar, 62, of St Paul's Bay pleaded not guilty to charges of grievously injuring a woman who insulted him. Inspector Joseph Busuttil said that in the early hours of 7 December, the accused hit Tracey Carmela Formosa in her face with a glass. The incident happened at the Ora- cle Casino in St Paul's Bay. When the police spoke to the accused, he defended himself saying that the woman started the argument and called him a 'midget.' The victim was taken to Mater Dei Hospital where medical checks revealed she needed a number of stitches on her right cheek. Magistrate Charmaine Galea granted Cassar bail against a personal guarantee of €5,000. Inspector Joseph Busuttil prosecuted while Dr Roberto Montalto appeared for the accused. Lawyers Domenic Micallef and Noel Cutajar appeared on behalf of the victim. Italian police seize 10kg of drugs in vehicle on way to Malta LAST week, Italian police seized over 10kg of drugs worth around €500,000 in a vehicle driven by an English mechanic who claimed that he was driving to Malta where he was heading for a holiday. However it is not clear whether the drugs were heading to Malta, with reports in the Italian media saying the drugs were intended for the Italian market. On 14 December an Englishman was stopped in a roadblock by the Italian in the northern town of Como which borders with Switzerland. The 49-year-old mechanic claimed that he was on his way to Malta but after searching his car the police found a number of packets hidden beneath the front seats of the man's Audi A2. The Italian police discovered 2.5kg of marijuana, 1kg of MDMA, 540 grams of ketamine and 6.4kg od ecstasy pills. The drugs and vehicle have been seized by the Italian police while the man is under arrest on charges of international trafficking of drugs.