Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/631983
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 JANuArY 2016 News Man jailed for complicity in burglary in which elderly woman was injured Matthew agius A 27-year-old man from Floriana has been sentenced to 30 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to the burglary of a house belonging to a 77-year-old wom- an. Several items of jewellery were taken in the burglary, which took place during the afternoon of 14 November, 2014, in St Ursula Street, Valletta. James Agius appeared before a court after being identified to the police by his accomplice, during separate proceedings against him and for which he had been handed a 24-month sentence, suspended for three years. Agius pleaded guilty to aggra- vated theft, stealing the items from the woman's home, slightly injuring the woman, holding her against her will, and receiving stolen goods. Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, pre- siding, took into consideration that the accused had filed a guilty plea at an advanced stage of proceedings, after the court had heard a great deal of evi- dence. The victim herself had testi- fied, telling the court how she had come face to face with the accused and his accomplice when she returned home after going grocery shopping. The elderly lady was thrown onto her bed and gagged with tape. "I was shouting at them to let me go, but the taller man told me to stop shouting and keep quiet," the woman had recalled before the court. After the men made off with her gold chains and a necklace they had torn from around her neck, the victim had managed to remove the tape that was cover- ing her mouth, but could not do the same to her legs, which had also been bound. Undeterred by this, the pensioner dragged her- self to her telephone and called the police. The woman, who had been suf- fering from severe shock, could not identif y her aggressors as they had been wearing large sun- glasses. In its decision, the court high- lighted the fact that the burglary could have had fatal consequenc- es for the woman, who could have been asphyxiated by the gag. On the other hand, the ac- cused had paid back some €1,100 to the victim, which the court took to demonstrate an element of contrition for his misdeeds. However, it also could not fail to note that the accused had been found guilty of causing grievous injury six years ago and had been placed on probation. Agius was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment. Police Inspector Carlos Cor- dina prosecuted, while law yers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili appeared for the accused. French sailor admits drunken assault on police Mat thew agius A French Nav y sailor on a port call in Malta has been handed a suspended sentence and a fine after he admitted assaulting two police officers who stopped him smoking at a Paceville club. 20-year-old Joorun Enzo Je- sus Patrice, a member of the crew of the frigate La Motte- Picquet, was enjoying some shore leave on Monday night when he was told to stop smoking at the Havana club in Paceville by two police of- ficers. Patrice, who was also ac- cused of being drunk and un- able to take care of himself in public, then assaulted the two officers in their line of duty, slightly injuring a con- stable, after also having diso- beyed and insulted the two officials. Defence law yer Quentin Tanti entered a guilty plea on behalf of the accused who, he said, wished to apologise for "any inconvenience which he had caused the police." Tanti told the court that Patrice had stopped smoking imme- diately upon being warned by the police. After giving the sailor a stern warning, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale found Patrice guilty as charged and handed him a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, together with an €800 fine which is to be paid before the sailor's ship sails tomorrow. Enzo Jesus Patrice serves on the frigate La Motte-Picquet which is currently in Malta Man handed 48-month jail sentence for robbing Inter club Matthew agius AN Msida man has been jailed for a total of 48 months after he admitted robbing a football sup- porters club during the operative period of a suspended sentence. 22-year-old Shaun Micallef was arraigned before Magistrate Do- natella Frendo Dimech last week, charged with stealing a projector, a television, alcohol and assorted merchandise from the Inter Pupi Zanetti Club. Micallef had admitted the charges, even after the court pointed out that he had been charged with theft aggravated by value, during the operative pe- riod of a suspended sentence. Magistrate Frendo Dimech handed down a 24-month sen- tence for the theft, in addition to rendering his previously sus- pended 24-month sentence ef- fective. Inspector Fabian Fleri pros- ecuted. Law yer Joseph Mizzi was defence counsel. Elderly woman hit by bus grievously injured A woman riding an electric scooter was injured yesterday when she was hit by a bus in Floriana. The accident occurred at about 10am, in Triq Nazzjonali. Investigations by the Valletta district police revealed that the 80- year-old Valletta resident was hit by a King Long bus driven by a 23- year-old Isla resident. The woman was conveyed to hospital, to receive treatment for her injuries, which were classed as grievous. Police investigations are ongoing. 19-year-old charged with drug trafficking just days after getting suspended sentence Matthew agius A troubled 19-year-old appeared in court yesterday, charged with having trafficked drugs, not 10 days after he had been handed a suspended sentence for theft. Inspector Nicolai Sant told Magistrate Francesco Depas- quale that Gordon Micallef, from Victoria, was arrested on Christmas eve after being found to be in possession of 87 ecstasy pills and three sa- chets of cocaine. He had been on police bail since then. The heavily tattooed ac- cused, who works as a plasterer, pleaded not guilty to charges of ecstasy trafficking, possession of ecstasy in circumstances denoting that it was not for his personal use, and cocaine possession. He also admitted breaching the conditions imposed by a previ- ous court sentence and to com- mitting the crimes within 100m from a school or club frequented by youths. Defence lawyer Robert Galea requested bail, explaining that the incident had taken place on Christmas Eve. The fact that Mi- callef was being arraigned over a month after the event showed that the police also considered him to be trustworthy, argued the law- yer. But Micallef narrowly escaped not being granted bail at all, when he failed to remember his Mal- tese address, having also lost his ID card. Luckily for the accused, the court eventually obtained the required information from the ID card details listed on the ac- cused's charge sheet. Galea asked the court to bear in mind the accused's dire economic straits when fixing bail conditions. The accused claimed to be prac- tically penniless. In view of this, the court granted him bail against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €10,000. After explaining to the somewhat con- cerned accused that he would only be required to pay the guarantee if he committed another crime whilst on bail, the accused briefly left the courtroom and returned with a wad of notes for the de- posit.