Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/825522
maltatoday, THURSDAY, 18 MAY 2017 News Father of stabbing victim admits to stealing from Carmelite friars MATTHEW AGIUS A woman accused of murdering two British pensioners in her Qawra flat made a fresh request for bail yesterday morning. 42-year-old Dragana Mijalk- ovic is accused of the wilful homicide of David Grant, 68, and Neville Ayers, 78, and with knowingly endangering their health. Ayers' body was found in her apartment. The police had noted abrasions on both his forearms and an autopsy had established the cause of death to be asphyxia. Mijalkovic, a Serbian national, had become a suspect after it was noted that nine months before Ayers' death, Grant - another English man - had also died in the same flat. The cause of Grant's death had been established as having been pulmonary oedema. Mijalkovic was arrested on suspicion of murder after the cause of Ayers' death was es- tablished and was found to have outstayed her permit in Malta by several years. Inspector Maurice Curmi from Qawra police station took the witness stand this morning, telling magistrate Antonio Mi- callef Trigona how the "frantic" woman had gone to the police station in person on 12 October last year, pleading for medical assistance. She had told offic- ers there that she had already called an ambulance, but after waiting in vain for 30 minutes she had decided to seek help from the police. Inspector Curmi said he had gone to the site and had found Ayers's motionless body. The man was pronounced dead at the scene when the ambulance arrived, he said. "He had several bruises and marks on his body which looked suspicious and so I informed the duty magistrate Aaron Bugeja, who arrived on site an carried out a site inspection." Inspector Curmi said he sus- pected foul play. The accused was found to be carrying €1,695 in cash, he said. In a previous sitting, the police had con- firmed that the accused had just won nearly €1,000 at a betting shop. A sergeant from the police vice squad testified today that the accused had refused legal as- sistance and had signed a docu- ment to this effect in the pres- ence of the sergeant herself and three other officers. The next witness, a police constable from the vice squad, testified that she had been with the accused on 13 October. "She spoke to the lawyer and I was present when this took place." When the sitting was called this morning, Mijalkovic's law- yer, Peter Fenech, informed the magistrate that he had just filed a court application, asking for his client to be released on bail. Fenech reminded the court that he had asked for bail in the last sitting and was told that "two or three" civilian wit- nesses remained to testify. He had filed an appeal over the de- nial of bail and a lawyer from the Attorney General's office had confirmed this number of pending witnesses to the appel- late court. No civilian witnesses were summoned today. The court said it was awaiting a reply from the Attorney Gen- eral on the issue of bail. The case will continue in two weeks' time. Police Inspectors Fabian Fleri and James Grech are prosecut- ing. Lawyer Peter Fenech is de- fence counsel to Mijalkovic. Qawra double homicide suspect requests bail as more witnesses testify Dragana Mijalkovic is accused of the wilful homicide of two elderly men CONTESTING DISTRICT 9 GHARGHUR, MSIDA, SWATAR, SAN GWANN KAPPARA, SWIEQI, MADLIENA, TA' XBIEX . DISTRICT 10 GZIRA, NAXXAR (PART OF), BAHAR IC-CAGHAQ PEMBROKE, ST.JULIAN'S, PACEVILLE, SLIEMA . . . MATTHEW AGIUS SILVIO Pace, father of a young man stabbed to death in Ham- run last month, yesterday pleaded guilty to charges of theft from a religious order. Pace, 48, had initially de- nied accusations of stealing some €4,000 from an apart- ment in Xemxija. which is used by Carmelite friars who run the church in Xemxija. This morning, however, he asked to change his plea to an admis- sion. During his arraignment ear- lier this month, one of the fri- ars had told magistrate Anto- nio Micallef Trigona how, at around 7.30am on the morning of 25 March, he had spotted a man stepping over the railing on a verandah overlooking the street. The verandah is con- nected the bedroom of the flat from which the money was sto- len. When the man realised he had been seen, he had pulled up his hood and fled. Pace was identified in court by the eye- witness. In view of his guilty plea this morning, the court condemned Pace to one year in prison, sus- pending his sentence for two years. Pace was also ordered to return the stolen amount. Inspector Nicholas Vella prosecuted. Lawyer Noel Bianco was de- fence counsel. Two men hospitalised following Msida stabbing AN argument between two foreigners in Msida culmi- nated in a stabbing, with the two men involved being hos- pitalised for treatment of in- juries sustained from a sharp instrument. The fight broke out early yes- terday morning at 8:00am in Msida Valley Road, opposite the Għajn tal-Ħasselin. Local media reported that the aggressor returned to the scene after the initial stabbing and tried to strike the man again. According to police, one of the men, who has not yet been identified, is suffering from grievous injuries. The extent of the injuries of the second man, a 21-year-old Somali na- tional resident of Safi, is not yet known. It is understood that the al- leged aggressor is under arrest. AN Englishman, 58, died yesterday morning after falling off a fence that was two metres high. Accord- ing to police, the incident happened at about 6.30am on Triq ir-Rizzi, Qawra. An ambulance was called to assist the man but a medical team pronounced him dead on site. Duty magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera ordered an inquiry into the case. Englishman dies after falling off a fence Silvio Pace was handed a suspended sentence after changing his not guilty plea to an admission