Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/668635
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 APRIL 2016 News Prosecution shortcomings scupper case against Paceville stone-thrower MAT THEW AGIUS A court has cleared a man of grievously injuring another in a Paceville fight after it noted that the only evidence against him was the testimony of the alleged victim and the unclear testimony of his friend. 21-year-old Axel Vella had been accused of inf licting grievous injuries on the per- son of Joseph James Crimi- nale, when the two had come to blows in Paceville four years ago. Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit was told that the ac- cused had been drinking with two friends, a couple, who started fighting. Criminale had intervened in the fight, at- tempting to pull them apart, at which point the defendant had allegedly thrown a stone at him "in self-defence", injuring him. But the case against Vella had been hampered by prosecution shortcomings. Magistrate Sta- frace Zammit pointed out that the doctor who had examined Criminale's injury had failed to present the medical certificate in the acts of the case and nei- ther had the victim testified, as he had emigrated to Australia in the interim. The prosecution had failed to summon the doctor who treated Criminale to confirm the nature of the victim's in- juries on oath. Neither had it produced any persons who had triggered the fight in the first place, the court said. The magistrate noted that the only evidence presented was the victim's statement and the "unclear" testimony of his friend. The court noted that the prosecution depended on cir- cumstantial evidence. While acknowledging that in a recent judgment a court of magis- trates had based its decision on hearsay evidence, the court had seen nothing which could lead it to be morally convinced that the defendant was guilty. Vella was cleared on the ground of insufficient evi- dence. The accused had been drinking with two friends in a Paceville bar Bail for doctor charged with theft A doctor at the Gozo hospital was released on bail yesterday after he was charged with steal- ing supplies of a painkilling drug which is normally used by women during childbirth. The non-Maltese doctor, who has practised medicine in Mal- ta for over nine years, had been found in possession of several boxes of pethidine bearing a mark denoting that they were property of the Maltese govern- ment. Pethidine is often prescribed by doctors for pain relief, par- ticularly for women in labour. The drug was initially consid- ered to be milder than morphine and less habit-forming or addic- tive than morphine, however this turned out to be wrong. It is frequently subject to abuse be- cause of its short term, euphoric highs along with pain relief. Police Inspector Edel Mary Camilleri, who arraigned the medic before Magistrate Joanne Vella Cuschieri in the Court of Magistrates in Gozo, explained that the doctor had failed to give a satisfactory account as to how he had come into possession of the boxes. He was charged with the sim- ple theft of medicinal items, the purchase and possession of a scheduled drug without the nec- essary authorisation or permis- sion and without evidence that it was for his personal use. Law yer Lucio Sciriha entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the doctor and requested bail. The court released the accused from arrest against a deposit of €1,000 and a €5,000 personal guarantee. Pethidine is often prescribed by doctors for pain relief, particularly for women in labour Algerian man deported after filing false declaration to Identity Malta MAT THEW AGIUS AN Algerian man is to be de- ported after admitting to having made a false identity declaration to the police and Identity Malta. Seif Eddie Ladara, 28, arrived in Malta five days ago and had been living in Santa Venera. He pleaded guilty in court to sub- mitting a false declaration to the police, an issue that came to light when he submitted an ap- plication to Identity Malta. The prosecution declared that the accused had a clean police conduct sheet, and that he had only been in Malta for five days and was due to leave tomorrow. Inspector Darren Buhagiar declared that he had cooper- ated fully with the police inves- tigation and "had also assisted in another investigation." The prosecution informed the court that it was currently in the pro- cess of making arrangements for the man's deportation to Algiers. The court, presided by magis- trate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, found the man guilty and hand- ed him a six month sentence suspended for two years. Law yer Noel Mifsud Cutajar was legal aid. Constitutional court to decide on co-accused testimony dispute MAT THEW AGIUS A man on trial for heroin pos- session has taken his case be- fore the Constitutional Court, claiming that his right to a fair hearing had been breached by the Court of Magistrates' deci- sion to admit the testimony of his alleged accomplice. The case dates back to July 2005, when Christopher Schem- bri, 41, from Hamrun had been arrested on charges of complic- ity in heroin trafficking. He was charged two years later. However, the only witness in this case was a certain Raymond Gerada, who the defence is ar- guing, should be deemed an ac- complice in the crime. At the time of the commission of the offence, it was not pos- sible to find guilt solely on the strength of the testimony of an alleged accomplice. In 2006 and therefore, one year before his ar- raignment, the sections of the Criminal Code which dealt with the value of testimony of an ac- complice were amended to allow such a conviction, albeit "with great caution." Schembri 's law yers had re- quested the court of Magis- trates to not apply the law as amended, but the law in force at the time, arguing that the non- retroactivity of penal law was an established principle. However, this argument was not upheld by the court and was dismissed in 2015. Having exhausted all other remedies, Schembri filed the application, arguing that it breached his right to a fair trial. Law yers David Camilleri and Joseph Gatt, signing the appli- cation, argued that the amend- ments only affect substantive law, which is used to determine whether a crime has been com- mitted, define what charges may apply and decide whether the evidence supports the charges and not procedural law, which regulates what evidence is ad- missible. Swedish man critical after being run over by car A 28-year old Swedish man has been critically injured after be- ing run over by a car in the early hours yesterday. Preliminary investigations sug- gest that the accident occurred at 5:30 in Triq Santu Wistin, St Ju- lian's. The man was hit by a Saab 93 18T Linear being driven by a 31-year-old Iklin resident. The man was taken to Mater Dei hospital where he was certi- fied as being in a critical condi- tion. A magisterial inquiry has been launched into the accident and police investigations are ongoing.