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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 2015 2 News Michael Refalo, former tourism minister, passes away at 78 FORMER Nationalist tourism min- ister Michael Refalo passed away yesterday morning, aged 78, at the Prince of Wales Home for the Eld- erly in Sliema. Refalo, who served in parliament for 33 years, also served as Malta's High Commissioner to the UK be- tween 2005 and 2008, after which he was appointed chairman of the Commonwealth Secretariat's ex- ecutive committee. He served as the editor of PN newspaper il-Mument between 1972 and 1980. Born in Sliema, Refalo was first elected to parliament in 1971 and successfully contested every elec- tion until 1998. He went on to occupy the post of parliamentary secretary for tour- ism in 1987, with a reappointment in 1992. He was appointed minister for justice in 1995 and for tourism in 1998. In 2007, he was made Companion of the National Order of Merit. Messages of condolence flowed in from the Nationalist Party, Labour Party, the government, the Malta Tourism Authority and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA). "Dr Refalo is one of the pillars of the tourism sector in Malta who through his dedicated contribution continued to build on what today is a successful and critical variable in Malta's economy. Indeed, hotel- iers, restaurateurs and other tour- ism stakeholders will remember Dr Refalo as a gentleman, a patriot and a driver for change," MHRA acting president Tony Zahra said. While offering its condolences, the government said that Malta has lost a political personality who gave a great economic contribution that allowed Malta to advance. "Refalo worked for Malta to achieve independence, one of the country's greatest historic achieve- ments. The impacts of his work in the tourism and culture sectors can still be felt today." Refalo was married to Blanche Smith and they have a son and three daughters. Conditional discharge for man who injured brother in domestic dispute MATTHEW AGIUS A 21-year-old man who attacked his father and brother with a knife after an argument about bringing his girlfriend home has been hand- ed a conditional discharge on the strength of the "family dynamic" and reconciliation. Magistrate Doreen Clarke heard that in April 2013, Jacob Sammut of Siggiewi, then aged 19, had been out in Paceville with some friends when he brought one of his friends, a girl, home with the idea that she would spend the night there. The girl told the court that when they arrived, the accused went to his parents' bedroom to ask his mother for her permission. His father had other ideas howev- er, and an argument broke out. The two men ended in fisticuffs and at one point, the accused's brother intervened. The accused, finding himself outnumbered, grabbed a knife. His brother was injured in the hand with the knife and the po- lice were called. The father claimed that the ac- cused had attacked him when he asked him and the girl to leave. He said the accused's brother arrived and calmed the situation down, es- corting his brother downstairs. At one point, he said, he heard the brother screaming that Jacob had stabbed him. At that point, the two locked themselves in the bedroom. The accused chose not to testify, instead releasing a statement. He explained that when his brother in- tervened, he felt that he needed to protect himself and he grabbed the knife. When the brother tried to separate them, he was struck with the blade. He was charged with causing grievous injuries to his brother with a sharp and pointed instrument, being in possession of a knife dur- ing the commission of a crime, be- ing in possession of a knife without the necessary licence and threaten- ing his father and brother. The court noted that at no point was the accused's life in danger and felt that the use of the knife was due to residual anger from the alterca- tion with the father, moments be- fore. It therefore found him guilty of causing grievous injury. It however held that the kitchen knife did not constitute "arms proper" as required by the second charge. The court did not deal with the third charge. The court did not find him guilty of the second and fourth charge, that of threatening behaviour, not- ing that it is a well established prin- ciple that for this offence to subsist, the behaviour must have existed for a span of time and could not only relate to one instance. Sammut was found guilty of caus- ing grievous injury and condition- ally discharged for two years. He was also ordered to bear the costs of the case. Safi escapee acquitted – charges time-barred Accused of breaking into two cars in 15 minutes A Tunisian man accused of escap- ing from the Safi detention centre has been acquitted after a court de- creed that the charges against him were time-barred. Irregular migrant Walid Belgas- em, 30, who had escaped from the Safi detention centre in 2006, was apprehended when he returned to the immigration department eight years later to collect his belong- ings and a sum of money that he had been carrying at the time of his rescue. The items had been placed in stor- age upon his arrival, pending the processing of his asylum case. However, legal aid lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace brought to the at- tention of the court the fact that the charges had been time-barred by the lapse of five years from the date of Belgasem's charge. Magistrate Charmaine Galea agreed with the defence and dis- missed the case. A 41-year-old man from Valletta was granted bail after pleading guilty to breaking into two cars in the span of 15 minutes. William Mercieca was arraigned on charges of stealing two car ster- eos, damaging the two cars and handling stolen goods. The court heard that, during late afternoon on 1 February, Mercie- ca had stolen a car stereo from St Publius Street in Floriana before moving on to repeat the offence on another vehicle parked at the MCP car park, 15 minutes later. Mercieca was also charged with handling stolen goods and being in possession of tools which could be used for theft from vehicles, with- out a satisfactory explanation. Following his guilty plea, Magis- trate Charmaine Galea granted the accused bail pending the comple- tion of a pre-sentencing report. Inspector Priscilla Caruana pros- ecuted. Lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace was legal aid. THE government has ap- pointed British arborist Ian Lansley to give his recommendations on the relocation of four fir trees growing outside Castille, Valletta. The relocation is part of a beautification project that was announced in the previous budget and which is expected to commence in the coming weeks. Lansley, who previously served as tree care manag- er at Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, was brought over to Malta by environ- mental NGO Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar to review the state of ficus trees at it-Tokk Square, Victoria. "Lansley will be giving his recom- mendations as to how the trees can be relocated somewhere else without any damage being done to them," the government said. "He is currently pre- paring a method statement about how this relocation should occur." British arborist to give Castille tree relocation advice Michael Refalo was made Companion of the National Order of Merit in 2007