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maltatoday WEDNESDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2017 News 6 MATTHEW AGIUS A Zebbug man is being held on charges of having sexu- ally abused five children over a span of several years and forc- ing one 13-year-old boy to par- ticipate in a pornographic per- formance. Paper company employee Christopher Dalli, 47, was ar- raigned yesterday before mag- istrate Donatella Frendo Di- mech and accused of sexually abusing five children aged be- tween 13 and 16. Dalli is alleged to have forced one teenager to participate in a pornographic performance and forcing the other four to be present during the sexual activ- ity. He is also accused of sexu- ally abusing all five, grooming one teenager online, producing pornographic material and be- ing in possession of child por- nography. The court was told that po- lice had discovered the ac- cused's alleged activity after being made aware that Dalli was making explicit videos and sending them to the 13-year- old boy. This, in turn, led them to find that Dalli had been car- rying out these activities with other minors for around six to seven years, Inspector John Spiteri said. The man is accused of having full intercourse with some of the children and participating in sex acts with others. Some of his alleged victims are now adults with families, the court was told. Defence counsel Legal Procurator Peter Paul Zammit entered a plea of not guilty but did not request bail. Zammit warned the court that "a paedophile does not enter prison and leave it on his feet," asking it to recommend the director of prisons to carry out a psychiatric evaluation in the hope that he be held in the forensic section of Mount Car- mel Hospital. The court, however, said it would not usurp the functions of the director of prisons, and left that decision up to the pris- on authorities. It ordered a ban on the pub- lication of the names of the victims to avoid secondary vic- timisation. Man held on charges of sexually abusing five minors Christopher Dalli, 47, was arraigned yesterday and accused of sexually abusing five teenagers A jealous husband who tried to stab his estranged wife to death – and nearly succeeded – has been jailed for six years. Kevin Micallef, 41, of Zurrieq pleaded guilty to avoid a trial by jury for the May 2012 attempted homicide of his wife, whom he stabbed with a penknife. The woman suffered grievous inju- ries and had been in a critical condition, in danger of dying. Micallef's bill of indictment states that the man had been married to the victim and had a daughter with her before the marriage broke down and the couple filed separation proceed- ings. Over the years, the wife had befriended another man, which had not gone down well with the accused, who refused to accept this situation. He had started shadowing her movements and would borrow a friend's car to do so. Micallef would also keep a penknife in the car which he intended to stab his wife with. On May 4 2012, Micallef put his plan into action, going to Birkirkara, to his wife's new friend's bar and waiting outside for her to leave. The woman had left at around 10:30pm, accom- panied by the bar owner. She had told the police how she had noticed a car following hers with its high beams on. When she had stopped and got out of the car to see what the problem was, Kevin Micallef had emerged from his vehicle and stabbed the woman repeat- edly in her abdomen and chest, causing serious internal injuries. The victim required life saving surgery to stabilise her condi- tion. After assaulting his wife, Mi- callef had turned the knife on himself and was taken to hospi- tal with a number of self-inflict- ed stab wounds in his abdomen. Micallef pleaded guilty to sev- en charges: attempted murder, harassment, intimidation, car- rying a knife without a licence and slightly injuring another two men in the struggle. Judge Antonio Mizzi, presid- ing the Criminal Court, having seen the guilty plea, jailed Mi- callef for six years and fined him €116.47 Lawyers Edward Gatt and Al- bert Zerafa appeared for Mi- callef, whilst lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia appeared in parte civile for the victim. Jealous husband jailed for six years over wife's 2012 stabbing MATTHEW AGIUS THE owner of an industrial garage has been cleared of being in possession of un- taxed fuel thanks to a mis- take in his writ of summons. George Pace, 54, from Hamrun, had been charged after Malta Resources Au- thority sent officials to in- spect his garage in Paola. The inspector discovered some 1,050 litres of gasoil, the duty on which had not been paid. Experts valued the fuel at €762.24 and the unpaid customs duty amounted to €401.52. €209.48 in VAT was also due. However, during the course of proceedings it emerged that the writ of summons in- dicated the year of the inspec- tion as 2011, when, in fact, it had taken place in 2010. Magistrate Ian Farrugia noted that there had been no request for the correction of the error. The court pointed out that it was bound by the charges as laid out in the writ of sum- mons and the date specified. As there was no evidence that the undeclared fuel was in the accused's possession on the date specified in the summons, the court had no choice but to acquit the man. Lawyer Mark Busuttil was defence counsel to Pace. Clerical error gets man off untaxed fuel charge Man was charged after Malta Resources Authority inspector found over 1,000 litres of gasoil with unpaid duty A group of Turkish sailors who entered Maltese waters when their yacht allegedly broke down have been re- manded in custody, after they were arraigned on charges of failing to supply the necessary information to the authorities before entering territorial wa- ters. Kerim Yesildag, 60, Mutlu Turkay, 33 and Cem Ozturk, 37, appeared before magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech yes- terday. Inspector Mario Haber charged the trio with failing to inform the authorities that they were entering Maltese waters. Turkay and Ozturk alone were accused of not having passports and failing to pro- vide the necessary information to the immigration authorities. Defence lawyer Benjamin Valenzia explained that the sailors' yacht, the US-f lagged Hang-Loose, had developed mechanical trouble and they had not informed Maltese au- thorities that they were enter- ing territorial waters. A guilty plea was filed, but the court said it could not accept it. "This not a court where peo- ple admit to crimes just to leave Malta... I cannot tarnish a person's criminal record for nothing." The court, instead, sent the case to be assigned for hearing according to law. The defence requested bail, which Inspector Haber object- ed to as the men had no fixed address in Malta. "They live on the yacht," he explained. The court while saying it did not want to impose a further burden of keeping the yacht under 24-hour surveillance on the police, denied the men bail. In view of the fact that the ac- cused could offer no guarantee that they would not abscond if granted bail, the men were re- manded in custody. Sailors denied bail for territorial breach Three Turkish sailors, who entered Maltese waters without informing authorities, have been remanded in custody