Court clears man of 2015 Cospicua hold up

A 34-year-old man from Cospicua has been cleared of carrying out the armed robbery of a gaming parlour in the harbour town in 2015.

Marflene Cricchiola was declared not guilty of holding up the BestPlay outlet at gunpoint and stealing between €5,000 and €6,000 from it.

The absence of fingerprint evidence, together with the fact that the robber had been disguised and that a search of the accused’s car did not return any evidence was used to great effect by Cricchiola’s defence counsel, lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, who argued that the fact that the accused was of a similar stature as the robber did not mean that they were the same person.

The court had heard police officers testify to having received a call whilst on a patrol in Cospicua, reporting a hold up at the outlet.

At the scene, the manager described the robber as being of medium stature, well-built and wearing a blue hoodie. He had told police that he suspected the owner of a red Mazda CRX Del Sol to be involved as he had seen it in the vicinity.

Whilst patrolling the area, the police spotted the car in question and saw the accsued getting out of it, wearing a white T-shirt and a blue tracksuit bottoms.

When stopped by the police, he had asked the officers whether it was about the hold up, the court was told.

An Best Play employee also testified to being robbed at gunpoint by a masked man who demanded cash.

He had complied and then pressed his panic button, with the police arriving very soon after. He told the court that he had never given a description of the robber to the police but had heard some officers mentioning names which sounded like Marflene.

He told them that he knew someone by that name and that he would occasionally go gamble at the shop. He mentioned that this person also drove a red Del Sol.

He did not recognise the accsued in the courtroom, but said he was of a similar stature. CCTV and fingerprint evidence were inconclusive.

The court said that the only evidence that could tie the accused to the crime was his stature and some scratches on his arm. The magistrate noted that none of the witnesses had recognised Cricchiola and that no fingerprints were identified at the scene, despite the fact that the robber was not wearing gloves.

The fact that he was arrested shortly after the robbery yet was not found to be wearing the same clothes as the robber also counted in his favour.

The court also noted that nothing incriminating had been found in his car either and that the Best Play employee could not recognise the accused as the robber, despite knowing him to be an occasional client.

Cricchiola was cleared of the charges.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel. Superintendent Josric Mifsud and inspector Saviour Baldacchino prosecuted.