Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/702975
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 13 JULY 2016 News Man critical after garage fire in Maghtab A man has been reported to be in critical condition after a fire broke out while he was in a ga- rage in Triq tat-Targa, Maghtab. The police were informed that the man was taken to Mater Dei hospital at around 13:45. Preliminary investigations re- vealed that the man, a 31-year- old Msida resident, was carrying out works on a dinghy, which caught fire for some unknown reason. An ambulance was called to the scene, and the man was cer- tified as critical. Duty magistrate Ian Farrugia has launched an investigation into the case. A 31-year-old man was taken to Mater Dei after getting caught in a fire in Maghtab Man convicted of blackmail after attempt to extort sex from a woman MATTHEW AGIUS A man's brazen attempt to force a sexual encounter with the sender of a private video that was sent to him by mistake, has backfired quite spectacularly, with him be- ing convicted of blackmail yester- day. San Gwann resident Mahmoud Razouk, 41, originally from Syria, was arraigned before Magistrate Ian Farrugia, charged with black- mail, harassment and uttering in- sults or threats. Inspector John Spiteri told the court that the woman victim had intended to send a racy video to her husband, but had sent it to Ra- zouk by mistake. Rejecting the woman's entreaties that he delete the video, the Syrian seized his chance to use the situ- ation to his advantage: Inspector Spiteri said that after receiving the video, the accused started to pester the woman for sex, using as pressure the threat of circulating her video online. "This is not a case of the accused getting a piece of cake and wanting another slice, but of the accused asking for another, complete, cake as well," remarked the magistrate. Razouk pleaded guilty to the charges, without reservation. The man's PC was exhibited in court and its destruction was or- dered after the accused elected not to hand it over to the police Cyber- crime Unit for a secure erasure of the offending video. The inspector added that the vic- tim was fearful that the accused would approach or stalk her in fu- ture and asked the court to impose a protection order in her favour. The defence did not object to this request. The court imposed a nine-month sentence suspended for three years and ordered the accused not to ap- proach the woman for one year against a €2,000 personal guaran- tee. "You are not going to approach this woman again," said the court. "This was an adventure of a crazy person," it summed up. Sticky-fingered tourist gets suspended sentence for stealing iPhone 6 MATTHEW AGIUS THE opportunistic theft of an iP- hone has landed a Bulgarian visi- tor in trouble with the law. 22-year-old Sabka Georgieva was arraigned before magistrate Ian Farrugia yesterday, charged with stealing an iPhone from a supermarket in St Julian's on Sun- day. Inspector Nikolai Sant charged the woman with the theft of the iPhone 6, valued at €800, and re- ceiving stolen goods. The pros- ecution explained that Georgieva had been "noted taking items from a person" in the supermarket from CCTV footage. She admitted during question- ing, he added. She had even hand- ed over €800 to the police, intend- ing to compensate the owner, as she had already sold the phone. The 22-year-old spoke only to confirm her details during the sitting. Lawyer Chris Chircop en- tered a plea of guilty on her behalf. In view of the fact that the wom- an pleaded guilty at an early stage of proceedings and that the pros- ecution had said she had repaid the value of the stolen object, the court imposed a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. Dingli man remanded in custody after fluke drug find MAT THEW AGIUS A self-employed man from Dingli has appeared in court in connection with the discovery by chance of a large amount of drugs in his garage. Magistrate Ian Farrugia heard that on 10 March this year, po- lice responding to a report of a commotion at Herman Sant's residence in Dingli had searched the house as they suspected fire- arms to be involved. In Sant's garage, the police found not only an unlicensed firearm but also 2,500 ecstasy pills, 250 grams of cocaine and a small amount of cannabis resin. Inspector Kevin Pulis charged the 44-year-old with possession of psychotropic substances in circumstances indicating that they were not exclusively for his consumption, possession of parts of a cannabis plant, can- nabis resin, keeping a firearm without the requisite police li- cence, threatening and slightly injuring his girlfriend. Sant pleaded not guilty to the charges and requested bail. Inspector Pulis argued against this, saying the crime itself was serious and that the police in- vestigation into this case was still in its early stages. They were still establishing facts which may lead to more arrests. Law yer Gianluca Caruana Cur- ran replied that the accused has a relatively clean conduct, fam- ily ties to Malta and a strong support network. He pointed out to the court that the grav- ity of the accusations in itself is not a ground for withholding bail and asked how the accused could possibly tamper with the evidence. "I feel that at this stage, as the accused has cooperated with the police and does not have a severely blemished criminal re- cord, the court can impose con- ditions to prevent any interfer- ence with the investigation." After retiring to his chambers for a short while, the magistrate turned down the request, saying it was not in the best interests of justice to release the accused on bail at this stage. Law yers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Giannella de Marco are defence counsel. After receiving the video, the accused started to pester the woman for sex, using as pressure the threat of circulating her video online