Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/602829
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 18 NovEmbEr 2015 News Court hears that housekeeper was 'shocked' to find Erin Tanti in Zahra residence The housekeeper was testifying in the case of Erin Tanti, who is charged with the wilful homicide of 15-year-old Lisa marie Zahra and with encouraging her suicide on 19 march, 2014. GabriEl SChEmbri The Zahra family housekeeper recalled being shocked to find erin Tanti in the kitchen on the morning of 17 March last year, as she was unaware he was in the house at all. The housekeeper was testify- ing in the case of erin Tanti, who is charged with the wilful homi- cide of 15-year-old Lisa Marie Zahra and with encouraging her suicide on 19 March, 2014. She recalled that, on the morn- ing of 17 March, Lisa woke up to go to school and was standing in the kitchen. To her surprise, erin was also there. he was wearing office attire and only said "good morning". Lisa was wearing her school uniform. The housekeeper said that she had not seen Tanti the night be- fore. "I was shocked to see him because I did not know that there was someone else in the house apart from Lisa". At the time, Lisa Marie's father, Tony Zahra, was abroad. She explained that Mark, an employee who works with Tony Zahra, told her to inform him if she knew that someone else was in the house. She informed him that she saw Lisa with a friend of hers. Later that day, Mark came to the house and together with the housekeeper, reviewed footage from the CCTV cameras. They saw Tanti leaving the house. She never saw him coming in. Lisa came home after school and the housekeeper prepared some food. On the phone, Tony Zahra spoke for the maid and told her to take Lisa's phone and not to let her leave. That same day, Mark called to see where Lisa was. he later came by the house to speak to Lisa while the maid was still in the kitchen. On 18 March, Lucy Giordimai- na, mother of Tony Zahra's part- ner, told the housekeeper to go to sleep as she would be taking care of Lisa. She normally slept in the attic room which, accord- ing to the witness, was a bit far from Lisa's room but in the same corridor. When the housekeeper woke up, she went to check on Lisa only to find that she was not in her room. She then told Lisa's brother, Nicholas, that Lisa was not in her room. They then searched the house for her. The window in Lisa's bedroom was open. In her room, the housekeeper found a written letter, which said "for you dad". She did not read it, only noting that it was a long letter. The case continues on 18 De- cember. Patient jailed after punching, attacking policeman with needle GabriEl SChEmbri The court handed down one year imprisonment for a 36-year- old man who was found guilty of threatening and hitting a police officer Magistrate Consuelo Scerri her- rera heard that on 13 October, policeman emanuel Cilia was sta- tioned at the emergency Unit of Mater Dei hospital when he heard noises coming from a cubicle in front of the reception desk. When he arrived on the spot, the policeman saw the accused, Sean Sinclair Pace, shouting to leave the cubicle because the doctor and the psychiatrist wanted him to go to Mount Carmel hospital. When the accused noticed the presence of the police in the cubi- cle, he started to punch Cilia. In his testimony, the policeman said that Pace had taken a boxing posi- tion and punched him in the head seven times. The ambulance driver then came in to try and restrain the accused. Pace left the cubicle for a few seconds and came back with a syringe in hand. he looked at the driver and made a hand gesture which meant he was going to cut his head off. In the meantime, he was trying to open the plastic cov- er on the needle. The doctor and psychiatrist intervened and held the accused back. The court was told that Pace had ended up in hospital because of an overdose. he had told the emer- gency doctor that he had a drug addiction problem and made use of heroin. The magistrate noted that the accused has a history of contra- ventions presented against him in court. Pace was sentenced to a year in prison, effective immedi- ately, together with a €1,000 fine. Man denies making thousands of euros off fake driving licences GabriEl SChEmbri A 56-year-old man has denied mak- ing thousands of euros by selling fake Libyan driving licences to for- eigners, including Moroccans, Tu- nisians and Bulgarians. The court heard that Mohamad Kamal Abdul Qalil, from Sudan, would charge some €100 per fake driving licence. The police have been investigating the case for months with sources telling MaltaToday that the man had 14 different mobile phones and used to operate from the Marsa Open Centre. Allegedly, the man was the only person in possession of the key that gave access to the sick bay in the centre. he also bought and installed a €2,000 air-conditioner in the same room. The sources claimed that the po- lice confiscated flick knives and fake knives. The man, also accused of money laundering, is pleading not guilty. The Police are still looking for two more people involved in the organ- ised crime. A Syrian man who gave his tes- timony before Magistrate Doreen Clarke, said he paid €120 to the ac- cused. he also gave Qalil a copy of his identification document and two photos. The Sudanese man then presented one photo for the licence and anoth- er one for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The sources also said that Qalil was associated with a drug trafficker who provided him with the neces- sary material. The prosecution is being led by Police inspectors Sergio Pisani and Pierguido Saliba. The case contin- ues tomorrow. Erin Tanti – his presence shocked the housekeeper A patient attacked a policeman in hospital