Man's rushed burglary conviction overturned on appeal

The court of appeal has overturned a man's theft conviction, after it noted that a previous court had failed to hear the defendant’s testimony after the original transcript was destroyed in a fire at the law courts.

In July 2012, Mohammed Sharfid had been found guilty of a 2001 burglary of a Sliema apartment and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, but had filed an appeal arguing that the first court had been unable to see all the evidence as part of the collection had been destroyed in a fire at the law courts. The victim's testimony had been among the documents that perished.

The sentence had been handed down in July 2012, instead of June that year after a change in the presiding magistrate. Mr. Justice Giovanni Grixti noted that this was where the appellant's arguments assumed a certain gravity.

“When the first court had decided not to re-hear a single witness, it had been in duty bound to at least hear the appellant's testimony again, more so once the original transcript had been lost,” he said, adding that the fact that the judgement had made reference to the defence's line of argument was not enough.

Sharfid had testified that his fingerprints had been found on the apartment door as he would prostitute himself there. In fact, his fingerprints had not been found inside the apartment.

Neither had his lawyer been given the opportunity to cross-examine the victim.

Mr. Justice Grixti after taking into account the fact that a month before the first court was due to pronounce judgement, the case had been allocated to another magistrate, as the first magistrate had been made a judge of the superior courts.

The new magistrate should have at least summoned the defendant to testify again, especially as his deposition had perished, remarked the judge, who felt that it would have been even better for the magistrate to hear all the submissions again.

The Court of Appeal held that in the light of this, it could not reasonably reach the same conclusions as court of first instance and overturned the sentence.