MaltaToday previous editions

MT 23 July 2017

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/852418

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 11 of 51

maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 JULY 2017 12 News PARTIT Demokratiku has voiced its support for Rabat residents who are objecting to an application for the demolition of a townhouse in the town's core in order to make way for a two-storey structure. The town ouse in question is in an urban conservation area and had already faced demolition in 2003, but the application had been refused at the time. "Partit Demokratiku would like to show its full support to Rabat's residents that are cur- rently objecting to an application (PA/07689/16) which would see a town house in Rabat's core de- molished and replaced with a two-storey dwelling," the party said in a statement yesterday. The party warned that the pro- posed development, if approved, would cause damage to cultural and archaeological heritage. In addition most houses in the area are sited on clay and the proposed construction posed a risk to the foundations of adjacent buildings. "A number of underground cav- erns lying beneath this stretch of land may be irreversibly damaged by the excavations. Demolishing the house may also negatively im- pact on an intricate underground water system fed by a natural stream and which dates back to Roman times. This is a source of water to a number of household wells," added the PD, calling for impact assessment studies to be carried out by the competent authorities themselves before ap- proving any development appli- cation. Drug trafficker gets 13 years, €30,000 fine after guilty verdict MAT TH E W AGIUS A jury has declared Ikechuk- wu Stephen Egbo guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine. Nigerian-born Egbo, 39, of San Gwann, was found guilty by 7 votes to 2 of conspir- ing to import cocaine. Egbo had planned to pick up Attila Somiyai, a drug mule carry- ing cocaine to Malta from the Netherlands in November 2010, upon Somiyai's arrival on a flight from Dusseldorf, and take delivery of the drugs. Egbo had been arrested during a controlled delivery operation outside the Roma Hotel in St Julian's after the authorities had successfully intercepted Somiyai. The latter was found to have in- gested 60 capsules of cocaine, containing over half a kilo- gramme of the drug with a street value of over €44,000. Somiyai was jailed for nine years in 2014 for his part in the operation. The jury returned its verdict after six hours of delibera- tion. After hearing submis- sions on the punishment, Ms Justice Edwina Grima sen- tenced the man to imprison- ment for 13 years and dined him €30,000. Lawyer Giannella Busuttil prosecuted. Lawyers Simon Micallef Sta- frace and Marc Sant were de- fence counsel. Obsessed man scales wall to get into ex girlfriend's house, court told MAT THEW AGIUS A Portuguese man who scaled a wall to enter his ex- girlfriend's house through an upstairs balcony has been remanded in custody after a court was told that he had ignored bail condi- tions intended to stop him from harassing the woman. Paolo Miguel Da Costa Osorio, 50, who has no fixed address, had told the police that he still loved his ex, Inspector Hubert Cini explained. The accused had spent 16 years in a relation- ship with a Maltese woman, which had then broken down. Inspector Cini told Mag- istrate Ian Farrugia that, on July 20, the accused had gone to his ex-girlfriend's house and used apparatus to scale a wall to enter her house via the balcony. This was not the first time that she had found him inside her house, he said, or threat- ened her with violence. The man had previously been charged with slightly injuring the woman and had been released on police bail to receive treatment at Mount Carmel Hospital. However, Osorio had dis- charged himself soon after and was arrested the next day, explained the inspec- tor. The man was charged with unlawful entry into a house, which carries with it a maximum three month prison sentence, as well as with harassing the woman, insulting her and causing her to fear that he would be violent to her, defaming her, and entering a house against an express warning by the owner. He was also charged with breaching bail conditions imposed on May 29, as well as a protection order and a suspended sentence that had been imposed on June 16. Defence lawyer Mark Mifsud Cutajar entered a plea of not guilty and re- quested bail. The prosecution objected to the man's release, ex- plaining that he had already been arrested on the same charges and had immedi- ately breached his bail con- ditions. "He was released at 6 and at 7 he was knocking on her door." The court denied bail, feeling the accused to be untrustworthy and due to the nature of the charges. Woman admits to threatening wardens with a baseball bat MATTHEW AGIUS A woman from Zabbar has plead- ed guilty to threatening two local wardens with a baseball bat. The 37-year-old hairdresser is understood to have been stopped by the two wardens who had no- ticed that her children were not wearing a seatbelt. The woman is accused of threatening the war- dens with the wooden bat, insult- ing them, disobeying a legitimate order and breaching the peace. The woman, who is alleged to suffer from a mental illness, was distressed and agitated before the sitting. Both parties approached the bench and conferred with the magistrate for several minutes be- fore a guilty plea was entered on her behalf. The defence asked that a pre- sentencing report be drawn up and a probation officer also be ap- pointed. The prosecution did not object to the request. The court, after discussing the case out of earshot of the public in the courtroom, said there were factors that appeared to be rele- vant in connection to the accused and upheld the request. Magistrate Ian Farrugia ordered that a pre-sentencing inquiry re- port be compiled. The court admonished the woman, who acknowledged that what she had done was wrong and said she was "deeply sorry." She was released on bail until the report was submitted, being ordered to sign a bail book once a week and provide a personal guarantee of €2,000. The court forbade her from approaching the wardens, even through an inter- mediary. Inspector Melvyn Camilleri prosecuted. Lawyers Jason Azzo- pardi and Kris Busietta were de- fence counsel. Rabat residents' concern over proposed construction

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of MaltaToday previous editions - MT 23 July 2017