Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/439085
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 DECEMBER 2014 12 2014 in review The year in crime FROM a court reporting perspec- tive, the past 12 months rocketed past in a blur of crime, with details of individual arraignments, juries, drugs, prostitution and murder cases coalescing into one heaving, amorphous morass of illegality. Several cases stand out, however. Be it due to the nature of the crimes committed, or perhaps the manner in which they were dealt with by the justice system, or indeed their sheer mind-boggling outlandishness. A year of drive-by and gang murders 2014's criminal record began with a spate of gangland murders in Feb- ruary. Bomb-making "expert" Pietru Cassar, known as il-Haqqa, was gunned down inside his Zejtun ga- rage in February by an unknown as- sailant. After being shot in the neck and chest with a 9mm pistol, he is believed to have walked outside to seek assistance, succumbing to his wounds before he could reach the doorstep of a residence opposite his garage. This was followed in April by the drive-by shooting of Jonathan Pace, owner of Tyson Butcher, in Ham- run. Muscat was shot three times in the head, losing sight in his right eye and later claimed that part of a bul- let was still lodged in his head. Pace, who was released on bail in August, was himself subsequently shot dead in another drive-by shoot- ing that month. Police experts de- scribed the weapon used as a "mili- tary grade assault rifle". Not a good year for fatherhood June saw 20 year old Leanne Camilleri plead guilty to lying under oath during the compilation of evi- dence against her father, Emanuel, who had been jailed in 2012 for de- filing her. Medical examinations had later confirmed that the girl was still a virgin. The man was exonerated by the constitutional court after the daugh- ter, now 20, recanted her testimony following the discovery of new evi- dence leading to her mother, Lisa May Camilleri, being charged with instigating her daughter's perjury. Criminal proceedings against the mother are ongoing. Emanuel Camilleri subsequently instituted constitutional proceed- ings against Inspector Louise Calle- ja, the Attorney General, and the Police Commissioner, claiming that his right to a fair trial was breached. The case will continue in February. The compilation of evidence against drama teacher Erin Tanti al- so began last June. Tanti is pleading not guilty to the murder of one of his pupils, 15-year-old Lisa Marie Zahra in what appears to have been a failed suicide pact last March. The two, who had been conduct- ing an illicit relationship, attempted to overdose on aspirin and whisky and then leapt from Dingli cliffs in March. Tanti survived the fall with superficial fractures and bruising, however Zahra unfortunately died at the scene. A year of sex scandals by the clergy Sex scandals dogged the Maltese diocese throughout 2014. The Catholic Church, still bearing scars from a slew of clerical sex abuse cases as well as the humbling experi- ence that was the 2011 divorce refer- endum, was forced to undergo further humiliation in the form of two clerical sex abuse scandals this year. In August the Church was at the centre of controversy after Gozi- tan priest Fr Jesmond Gauci, was charged with defiling three young Gozitan girls. The charges were kept under wraps after a Gozo court de- creed that the case be heard behind closed doors, imposing a ban on the publication of the accused's iden- tity. In what was described as an "un- heard of" decision, Fr Gauci was granted bail before the victim's tes- timony was heard, prompting an ap- peal by both the police and the At- torney General. A month later, the 12 months rocketed past in a blur of crime, but several cases stand out for the manner in which they were dealt with by the justice system, or indeed for their sheer mind-boggling outlandishness. By MATTHEW AGIUS and DANIEL MIZZI Crime scene – the dead body of Pietru Cassar il-Haqqa at the scene of the crime police investigation, and below, the broken window of Guzi Galea il-Gilda's car in Marsa, where he was murdered in broad daylight