Man admits to hiding irregular migrant in his house

A man has received a suspended sentence after admitting to charges of knowingly concealing the fact that an undocumented migrant was residing in his house.

Inspector Karl Roberts arraigned the Syrian national, whose name was banned from publication so as not to harm ongoing police investigations into third parties, before Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras on Wednesday.

The arrest followed an investigation into the arrival of a boat carrying 35 illegal migrants, which came ashore at Delimara last month.

Six men were charged on 5 October in connection with the boat’s arrival. During that arraignment the court had been told how the police had made arrests after receiving information about illegal immigrants disembarking a sailing boat, which had been accompanied by a luzzu, at Delimara at 3:30am on September 14, 2022. 

During today's arraignment, the court was told that during his interrogation, the man had admitted to keeping the migrant, a woman, in his house, despite being aware of the fact that she was in Malta illegally.

The accused, who had been residing in Malta for the past four years, pleaded guilty to the charge. His lawyer, Noel Bianco, submitted that the offence with which the man had been charged befitted a suspended sentence. On its part, the prosecution did not insist on a prison sentence in this case.

The court, having taken into consideration the man’s cooperation with the police investigation and early guilty plea, sentenced him to one year in prison, suspended for two years.