Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/882846
6 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2017 News MATTHEW AGIUS A PAIR of Bulgarian pickpock- ets have been jailed for stealing €60 from an elderly woman, after a police inspector said the wave of similar thefts was harming the public's peace of mind. A miserable looking Mariana Petrova and Nadezhda Ivanova, aged 23 and 36 respectively, ap- peared in the dock before Mag- istrate Francesco Depasquale, accused of robbing the Maltese woman in Sliema yesterday. Inspector Mark Mercieca told the court that the pair had been spotted by an undercover police officer, one of many dispatched to the pickpocketing hotspots in an effort to quell the rash of similar crimes, in the act of removing the cash from the woman's handbag. There are many more like them, said the inspector, add- ing that his investigation had revealed that the pair had vis- ited Malta three times since June. "It is a business," he said. The women pleaded guilty to simple theft. Defence lawyer Victor Bugeja pointed out that the stolen cash had been recov- ered and that this was their first brush with the law. "It is not just to make a show of these people in the hope of deterring others," he said. "Are you going to send them to pris- on over €60?" Bugeja recommended that the women be sent back to Bul- garia. But Inspector Mercieca was adamant that the message had to be sent that such crimes would not be tolerated. "The prosecution is insisting on imprisonment. The police in Sliema are facing a huge in- flux of this type of crime. Both women claimed that they were visiting Malta for the first time, but from my investigations it transpired that these persons visited Malta three times since June. "I think we need to transmit the message that Malta is a safe country," said the inspector. Bugeja said his clients were de- nying that they came to Malta before. "They were never asked how many times they were in Malta. This is the first occasion where my clients were charged with a crime. They are being accused of stealing €60 from a third party. When they were caught, the money was returned to the aggrieved party, they fully cooperated and admitted and pleaded guilty at an early stage." In the circumstances, he said, the defendants did not merit a jail term. "If the court wishes to pass on a message to other people that in Malta we mean business, the court can always deport them to Bulgaria, but imprisonment for such a petty offence is quite excessive." Before sentencing the accused, the court summarized the case, noting that the accused had been caught pickpocketing and after being caught by the police, they had returned the stolen cash. It noted further that although the amount sto- len was only €60, "the gravity of the offence is due to the fear that such persons may cause to elderly people, who had to be wary of every person around them when out in public." Describing the offence as "very serious," the court sen- tenced Petrova and Ivanova to two months imprisonment. Pickpocketing epidemic 'is a business', court told MASSIMO COSTA THE Office of the Ombuds- man last year ruled against a complaint brought forward by a non-resident EU worker in Malta, who asked for the registration tax on his im- ported vehicle to be refunded. The case revolved around a complaint by a senior of- ficial of a foreign bank, who was seconded to its branch in Malta, bringing his car with him, which was registered in the United Kingdom. The complainant applied with Transport Malta to use the vehicle in Malta without paying the registration tax, since he was a non-resident worker. His application was accept- ed and he was subsequently issued with a temporary per- mit for 12 months. However, once the permit expired, it could not be re- newed. The complainant, faced with the choice of either paying the registration tax or exporting the vehicle back to the UK, opted to pay the tax. When his secondment was about to expire, the com- plainant requested a refund, which was refused. He then contended that he was unfairly charged, and maintained that the law dis- criminated against tempo- rary resident EU citizens and was contrary to the right of free movement. He argued that no other EU country applied such a reg- istration tax requirement on non-resident workers, and requested the Ombudsman to defend individuals against maladministration, to ensure that the law was applied fair- ly, and to see that laws which were a source of injustice be amended. Transport Malta justified its decision to refuse a refund, saying that the law only al- lowed for a one-year exemp- tion from registration tax. The Ombudsman decided that Transport Malta had correctly applied the applica- ble legislation and could not be censured for not issuing the pro rata refund requested. The Ombudsman said the law clearly stated that a ve- hicle was exempt from regis- tration tax only if it had been imported by a person who had been residing outside Malta for at least 185 days, and who comes to Malta under a work contract – in which case the exemption would be for a one-year period. The vehicle would be due to be taxed if it remained in Malta after the period elapsed. The Ombudsman also noted that motor vehicle registra- tion had not yet been harmo- nized across the EU, and dif- ferent rules were applied by the Member States in relation to vehicle-related taxation. Having examined the appli- cable EU legislation, the Om- budsman was of the opinion that the provisions of Maltese law regarding vehicle taxa- tion were in conformity with EU law. Two Bulgarian pickpockets have been jailed for stealing from an elderly Maltese woman in Sliema Ombudsman says Transport Malta's decision not to refund registration tax justified MASSIMO COSTA THE denial of medicine to Multiple Sclerosis patients was found by the Commis- sioner for Health to have been in breach of the law, when he investigated a complaint against the Health Depart- ment. The case, which occurred last year, involved three Mul- tiple Sclerosis patients who were not given the medicine Dimethyl Fumarate (Tecfide- ra) which they were entitled to. They had been told by Ma- ter Dei Hospital's pharmacy that they had to wait their turn in around three months' time. The reason given by the De- partment of Health for not providing the medicine was a lack of funds. The patients filed a com- plaint with the Ombudsman, who then asked the Com- missioner for Health to in- vestigate. The Commissioner informed the Department of Health that it was in breach of the law, and asked it to treat the matter with urgency in or- der for the patients to be given the medicine they required. Following this intervention, the patients were given the medicine. Health Department's delay in providing medicine to MS patients was in breach of law Woman injured in tow truck collision in Zejtun A 55-year-old woman from Zabbar sustained grievous in- juries following a collision be- tween her Maruti 800 and an Iveco Daily tow truck, which was being driven by a 42-year- old man, from Vittoriosa. Police were informed of the collision, which took place in Bulebel, outside the limits of Zejtun, at around 8am yes- terday. Police investigations are on-going.