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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 AUGUST 2017 4 News Police Commissioner rapped by magistrate for failing to execute arrest warrant MATTHEW AGIUS A court has ordered the Com- missioner of Police to explain why two people whose arrest it had ordered, had instead been called up at home and told to appear in court. An indignant magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech gave the order yesterday, after Antonella Vella, who made her own way to court, togeth- er with co-accused Stephen Borg, explained that they had received a phone call yester- day, informing them that they were to appear in court that morning, despite the court having ordered the couple's arrest, after they had missed a previous sitting in a case where they are accused of theft. "This is a blatant violation of a court order – an arrest war- rant is an arrest warrant. So much so, that when proceed- ings where an accused person is to be escorted to court un- der arrest, there must also be a request for bail," the court said. The court also condemned the increasingly pervasive practice of asking people to go to the police station and arresting them there, remark- ing that this was not the cor- rect procedure and was disre- spectful to the court. "It must end once and for all," magis- trate Frendo Dimech said. In a decree, the court called upon the Commissioner of Police to file a note by the week's end, indicating the measures taken to defini- tively address this issue. A copy of the order was also to be served on the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Home Affairs. "You must go and arrest them at home," the magistrate said, visibly annoyed at what she termed "a total disregard for the law." At the end of the sitting, a police officer explained to the court that he had gone to Stephen Borg's house the previous night in order to ar- rest him, but had found his mother, who had called the accused and informed him that he was to appear in court the following day. The court did not accept this excuse and pointed out that the law gave the police 48 hours to detain suspects under arrest before arraigning them in court. Lawyer Noel Cutajar for Antonella Vella informed the court that his evidence was closed. The case continues in October for Stephen Borg's evidence. JAMES DEBONO IN 2016 around 120 million li- tres of water – the equivalent of 60 million two-litre mineral water bottles – were saved after letters were sent to 3,000 con- sumers alerting them of possible water leakages from their prem- ises. The average leakage level in these households was of around 90 litres an hour, the equivalent of 1,080 bottles of mineral water a day. This emerges from the Water Services Corporation's annual report for 2016, which reveals that the 3,000 letters were sent to customers all over Malta and Gozo to advise them of possible water leakage in their premises. This exercise was carried out after studying the consumption data made available through the WSC-designed profile analysis tools. Over 1,500 home visits related to high consumption or water infiltration due to issues in neighbouring premises were also carried out in 2016 by this section. The WSC's aim is to increase the actual amount of water be- ing billed. This can only be achieved by the replacement of old meters. Nearly 30,000 me- ters a year need to be replaced in order to attain this goal. The report estimates that 3,456,525 cubic metres or 41% of all water produced is leaked, down from 47% in 2011. The report shows that Malta has become heavily reliant on energy consuming desalina- tion, which accounts for 58% of its water needs, up from 55% in 2008 and 56% in 2011. 32% of all water is derived from the Pembroke RO plant. During the period under re- view the total water produced by desalination was 18,622,971 m3 whereas the total groundwater extracted was 13,505,262 m3. 120 million litres of water saved from leaks Appeals Court overturns arbiter's decision over Swieqi traffic accident MATTHEW AGIUS A motorist has been ordered to pay over €2,000 in damages after the Court of Appeal over- turned a decision absolving her of responsibility for a 2009 car crash in Swieqi. The collision occurred on 6 May, 2009 in Triq is-Sidra, Swieqi, as Mary Ann Cachia was pulling out of her driveway and was struck by a vehicle that was being driven by Clayton Calleja. Cachia had claimed to have already pulled out of her drive at the time of impact and that her car had been parallel to the pavement, ready to set off when Calleja's car came hur- tling down the street, crashing into her car. An Arbitration Tribunal had previously declared that Cachia was not responsible for the accident. Calleja subse- quently filed an appeal against this decision. Mr Justice Anthony Ellul, presiding the Court of Appeal in its inferior jurisdiction, ob- served that the point of im- pact had been close to the rear wheel well. This contradicted Cachia's claim to have had al- ready fully emerged from her drive, onto the road, because had that been the case, the court noted, it would have been the back end of the car that would have been damaged and not the rear passenger side. The "substantial" damage to both cars indicated that the woman had still been pulling out of her drive-in, into the arterial road, when the two ve- hicles had collided, the court said. The judge also noted that the evidence pointed to Calleja having probably been driving at a speed above the 50km/ hour limit in the road in ques- tion. Upholding the appeal, the court ruled that the majority of the responsibility for the acci- dent fell on Cachia, as she had "disrupted the flow of traffic when cars were passing along the principal road." But in view of the fact that Calleja had been speeding at the time, his responsibility for the accident was adjudged to be 30 per cent. Cachia was ordered to pay €2,038.60 in damages, the court ruling that 70 per cent of the costs of the case were to be borne by the woman and 30 per cent by Calleja. Lawrence Cutajar – court demands explanation