Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/429113
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 DECEMBER 2014 4 News CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The state- ment was approved by Zammit while Mallia was also at the police depot, whose presence is corroborated in part by an edited transcript of Zam- mit's recorded telephone calls, re- leased by the PN on Friday evening: it is indeed alleged that Mallia's voice can be heard in the background. But Mallia, who now faces a motion of no confidence in parliament, has claimed in the House of Representa- tives that he had not been consulted about, nor seen, the statement on the shooting incident involving his secu- rity driver before it was issued. MaltaToday has also established that the shots were fired while Shee- han was actually in telephonic con- tact with the police control room, allegedly summoning the assistance of the Rapid Intervention Unit, and that the shots were heard by police officers taking the call. On the night, Mallia was attending a function at the Police Depot when the information on the incident was relayed to the minister by Zammit himself. Minutes after the shooting, the minister got in touch with his driver to ensure that his (the minister's) daughter was safe and after being re- assured that the daughter was at the house of Sheehan's mother in Gzira, he was told by Sheehan that some- body had driven into the ministerial car and that he fired warning shots. Once the Office of the Prime Min- ister got to know about the shooting, the government's chief communica- tions director, Kurt Farrugia called Zammit to gather information. MaltaToday has established that Farrugia drafted a media statement based on the information he was given by Zammit, and that the draft statement was sent to a number of persons, including Mallia and his chief of staff, Silvio Scerri. At around 10:30pm, Farrugia asked Zammit to confirm the details in the statement before this could be sent to the media and minutes later the acting Commissioner approved the statement while Mallia was still at the Police HQ. The statement was then issued at 11:15pm, claiming that shots were fired in the air following a hit and run traffic accident. However, pho- tos published in the press revealed that the shots were fired in the direc- tion of Smith's car, which was hit. The statement explained that up- on hearing the sound of the impact when the ministerial car was hit, Mallia's driver rushed out from the house to check what had happened, realised that the car had been hit and gave chase to the foreigner. The ministry claimed that Smith attempted to force the minister's car, as it gave chase, into a wall in the Tal-Qroqq area, and that Smith had threatened Sheehan with a beer bot- tle. Mallia's driver was then said to have fired "two warning shots in the air" but photographic evidence soon showed that the bullets had lodged in the car. Although on the night of the inci- dent, MaltaToday reported online that two bullet holes were visible in Smith's car, the home affairs minis- ter's chief of staff, Silvio Scerri, con- tacted the MaltaToday newsroom to insist that the shots fired were "warning shots". The photo published by MaltaTo- day shows a bullet hole above the rear windscreen, in the car's roof, and another in the rear bumper. Once these details emerged the day after the incident, a news conference was held at Mallia's ministry in Val- letta in which the minister described the shooting as an "unfortunate in- cident" adding that "it is a pity there are people trying to give a distorted picture of what really happened". MATTHEW VELLA A transcript of telephone conversa- tions that took place on the night of Wednesday, 19 November shortly after the Sheehan shooting incident, suggests that Home Affairs Minis- ter Manuel Mallia could have been aware of what was going on shortly after police intervened in the mat- ter. The transcript was released in the form of an edited, abridged, para- phrased re-enactment of what PN medium Net TV claimed were tran- scripts of the recorded telephone calls made to the police control room and several police officials. The actu- al recording was not released, except for one segment in which Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit is heard talking. Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has refused to confirm whether the PN or its media house Media.Link will be releasing the full telephonic recordings in their unadulterated version, to reveal the full content and context of what was said during the conversations. The transcript suggests that Paul Sheehan, Manuel Mallia's driver, had told police he shot at a car but this version of events was not faithfully produced in a government statement issued that evening. At 9:01pm, Paul Sheehan – the police constable now facing charges of the attempted murder of Stephen Smith – called the control room at police HQ to inform them that he had given chase to Smith after shoot- ing at his vehicle, with the chase coming to a head under the Tal- Qroqq tunnels. He is heard warning Smith, alleg- edly, "not to stand up or I'll empty it on you" [ara ma tqumx ghax fuqek nahlih]. In the same call he is heard saying, "here under the tunnels... I've already shot at him", and asking to speak to Minister Mallia, who was at the po- lice HQ attending a social occasion. At 9:05pm, Acting Police Commis- sioner Zammit was informed of the shooting by police constable Ryan Pisani, whom he ordered to have a low loader taken to the scene and to have Smith escorted to the Msida police station. At 9:07pm, Sheehan called the control room again, explaining again that he had had an argument with Smith after the Scotsman hit the ministerial car. At 9:15pm, Zammit called Sheehan to inquire where Minister Mallia's daughter was, to which Sheehan says that she was at his mother's house in Gzira; and that he had already spo- ken to Mallia. "Yes, I have spoken to the minister." Sheehan also told Zammit in the same call that he had "got the weapon out, shot twice, not at him, mind". Zammit, according to the tran- scribed telephone conversations, then called Superintendent Alexan- dra Mamo to order a magisterial in- quiry. According to the PN, the voice of Minister Mallia can be heard in the background. At 9:30pm, Mamo calls Zammit to tell him that the bullets hit Smith's car. Zammit instructs her to pre- serve the scene of the crime. "Don't Sheehan heard firing gunshots while in contact with police MCST/39/2014/R - Call for Tenders for the Provision of Services for an Online Platform for Maltese Research and Innovation (PLUMTRI) RE ISSUE The Malta Council for Science and Technology has issued a Call for Tenders for the development and hosting of a National Portal for Research and Innovation (R&I). The call, published last Friday 28th November, will act as a one-stop-shop for any interested party to access information on news, events, programmes and opportunities in various elds of R&I. Deadline for submission of tenders is 12th December at 09.30 am. Tender documents can only be obtained from the Electronic Public Procurement System following a registration process: https://www.etenders.gov.mt The Malta Council For Science And Technology, Villa Bighi, Kalkara KKR 1320, Malta www.mcst.gov.mt Sheehan 'transcript' is new nail in the coffin for Paul Sheehan making a phone call on the night of the incident