Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/495652
6 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 15 APRIL 2015 News YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Lands ordered to pay €273,777 to Marsaxlokk restaurateur MATTHEW AGIUS A court has ordered the Commis- sioner of Lands to pay a Marsax- lokk restaurant operator almost €274,000 in compensation for ter- minating the lease of the property where the restaurant lay, without regard for the value of the business he had built up. The Commissioner of Lands had originally leased the site, at Ponta tal-Qrejten in Marsaxlokk, to a company called Air Supplies & Ca- tering Co. Ltd in 1980. However, that same year, An- thony Gatt took over the lease, building an 11-room guest house and a fully-equipped 200-cover restaurant at a cost of Lm200,000 (€465,875). In 1993, Gatt was approached by a certain Joe Baldacchino, who wished to lease the restaurant from Gatt, but Gatt had informed him that this was not possible because of the conditions of the original lease. To circumvent this, a man- agement agreement was signed between Gatt and J&H Company Limited – owned by Baldacchino – allowing it to operate the restau- rant, renamed as "Is-Sajjied Res- taurant". However Baldacchino paid Gatt only up till 2003, leaving Gatt to pay the rent due to the government out of his own pocket. Gatt fell be- hind in rent payments and is also embroiled in several lawsuits in which he is attempting to recover the amount due under the manage- ment agreement. An eviction order was issued against Gatt in 2006. Gatt negotiated with the Com- missioner of Lands of the time, Albert Mamo, to transfer the lease to J&H Company in return for Lm70,000, however soon after this an eviction letter was sent to Gatt. Confronted with this fact, Mamo had reassured Gatt that he would, at least, be compensated for the goodwill of the going concern. However, when the tender proc- ess was concluded in 2009 Gatt realised that, contrary to what had been agreed and contrary to the norm in such tenders, there was no clause in the tender wherein the new tenant would pay for the goodwill built by his predecessor. He exhibited similar agreements for the Beach Haven, a Bugibba property, and property in Ghad- ira. Baldacchino had, in fact, con- firmed to the court that he had received "a complete restaurant," furnished and fitted with all nec- essary equipment. After several meetings between the Commissioner of Lands, Gatt, Mamo and his lawyer, an agree- ment was reached under which the winning bidder would pay Lm130,000 to Gatt for the good- will. The agreement had been ap- proved by then Minister Tonio Borg. However, before this could be formulated into a specific tender, a Cabinet reshuff le and a change in the Commissioner of Lands re- sulted in the tender being issued without the goodwill sum being included. Ms Justice Jacqueline Padovani Grima held that "the government is one entity, and a change in ministers should not result in the revocation of previously approved decisions," adding that in this case, such a revocation had resulted in a "substantial injustice". Joseph Baldacchino, sole director of J&H Company, had been "gifted a restaurant on which Lm200,000 had been spent and managed to escape paying rent to the plaintiff with impunity." The judge ordered the Commis- sioner of Lands to pay the plaintiff the sum of €273,777, which repre- sented the remainder of the value of the going concern, after deduct- ing the amount of rent outstand- ing. Lawyer Edward Gatt represented Anthony Gatt. Drug trafficker files constitutional case after Chief Justice turns down recusal MATTHEW AGIUS DARREN Desira, the man at the cen- tre of a judicial bribery scandal, has filed a constitutional case asking the court to declare that his continued detention, pending his appeal against an 18-year sentence on drug charges, was in breach of the European Con- vention on Human rights. In his application, Desira says he "had already lost a great deal of faith in the justice system". Desira filed the constitutional case following refusals to grant bail and a refusal by Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri to recuse himself. Camilleri was serving as Deputy At- torney General at the time of Desira's proceedings in the criminal court. Desira had his prison sentence con- firmed by a Court of Appeal, but the late, former judge Ray Pace was later charged with bribery for having at- tempted to influence the outcome of the appeal, which was presided by another judge. Pace was alleged to have been bribed by rivals of Desira, to use his influence for a stiffer prison sentence. One of the men charged with his bribery, Raymond Caruana, was shot dead last month outside his San Blas farmhouse. The court, presided by Ms Justice Lorraine Schembri Orland, heard former Assistant Police Commis- sioner Neil Harrison testify that judge Pace had summoned him to his chambers and told him that had he (Pace) not intervened, drug dealer Darren Charles Desira would have received a lesser punishment. Harrison was the main prosecuting officer in the drug smuggling case against Desira, the man at the centre of the bribery case involving the late Judge Ray Pace. Raymond Caruana and Sandro Psaila were accused of attempting to bribe the former judge to convince fellow judge Lawrence Quintano to impose a lengthier prison sentence on Desira, in order to "send a mes- sage" to Desira and his gang. Pace himself was accused of bribery and trading in influence, before taking his own life in 2013. Harrison told the court that it was abnormal for a judge to summon po- lice to their chambers, and that he wasn't even sure where his chambers were located. Harrison testified that the judge had discussed two judgments to him, one of which was that which resulted in Desira being jailed for 18 years. Judge Pace had not been involved in the criminal case against Desira, which was being handled by judge Lawrence Quintano. At that point, said Harrison, he did not think long of Judge Pace's com- ment, surmising that it may have been normal practice for judges to seek each other's advice before hand- ing down a sentence. Former Police Commissioner John Rizzo had then instructed him to bring Desira from prison to his of- fice. While speaking to Desira, Rizzo spoke of "a judge" and this phrase made Harrison recall his conversa- tion with Pace in a different light. In fact, when Rizzo mentioned the words "a judge" Harrison surrepti- tiously asked him whether he was referring to Ray Pace. Rizzo nodded, he said, and Harrison then told him about the conversation in the judge's chambers. Security firm stopped from preventing Heritage Malta changing contractor Court thwarts security firm's attempt to prevent client from calling for new contract MAT THEW AGIUS A court has rejected a securit y company's request to issue a warrant of prohibitory injunc- tion against Heritage Malta, preventing it from contract- ing with other providers, after the company was told that the agreement was merely verbal. The case revolved around Heritage Malta's cancellation of a contract for the provision of securit y services to its sites. Signal 8 Securit y – the in- cumbent securit y provider – had filed an application in March, requesting the court to issue a warrant of prohibitory injunction, preventing Herit- age Malta from issuing securit y contracts to third parties. Signal 8 Securit y had signed a contract with Heritage Malta in December 2012 after a pub- lic call for tenders, which the company had won. The subse- quent agreement expired on 31 December, 2013. The plaintiffs claimed that the original contract had been tacitly extended after 1 Janu- ary, 2015 and the company had continued to supply its services against payment. However on 10 March this year, Heritage Malta called a meeting with the plaintiff and informed it that that it had uni- laterally established a different rate of €8 per hour, without consulting with Signal 8. Heritage Malta also imposed a new condition, outlined in a circular sent out by OPM, whereby it required the com- pany to declare that it would not subcontract its functions to third parties. Signal 8 requested the court to issue a warrant of prohibi- tory injunction, preventing the defendants from cancelling the current contract or from imposing the new condition, claiming that this would cause a disproportionate burden on it. However Ms Justice Lorraine Schembri Orland did not is- sue the injunction requested, holding that the plaintiffs had not succeeded in convincing it that probable grounds for their claims existed. The court said that the com- pany, for reasons unknown and attributable solely to it, had failed to accept the changed conditions explained in the OPM circular. Heritage Malta had offered the plaintiffs the possibilit y of benefiting from a new and amended contract, as long as it accepted the new conditions imposed by the government; however they had refused to do so. The lack of mutual consent meant that there was no con- tractual tie between the two parties. She pointed out that Heritage Malta had been clear and unequivocal in its notice to the plaintiff, terminating the agreement. In dismissing the case, the judge cited jurisprudence which had established that ver- bal agreements which, having been made with the intention of eventually being written down, but had not been, were deemed to be invalid. Criminal handyman admits to stealing client's jewellery MATTHEW AGIUS A handyman with at least one prior criminal conviction has been granted bail after he admitted stealing €15,000 worth of jewellery from a client. Magistrate Josette Demicoli heard how the accused, 47 year-old Joseph Grech from Sliema, had been engaged to do interior decorating work at a house in Sliema last October. He was summoned to the police station for questioning after the authorities had received reports that he was selling stolen jewellery. Grech had a previous conviction for a similar offence in 2013 and had also been charged with vandalising a neighbour's house in November 2014. Police Inspectors Carlos Cordina and Jason Francis Sultana charged him with theft aggravated by amount, receiving and selling stolen goods and relapsing. Grech pleaded guilty to all charges. The court granted him bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000 and, on the request of defence lawyer Franco Debono, appointed a proba- tion officer to compile a pre-sentenc- ing report.