Five charged, denied bail after Ħamrun police assault goes viral

Five individuals have been remanded in custody after being charged over an incident in Hamrun last Saturday in which two police officers were assaulted. 

The four men and one woman, all Maltese nationals, had reportedly confronted the officers while they had been issuing a parking fine.

Magistrate Joseph Gatt presided over the arraignment of the five defendants who were charged with participating in affray, using violence against public officials, insulting, threatening and violently resisting the same officials. The defendants were further charged with causing grievous bodily harm to one of the officers and slight bodily harm to the other, with those charges being aggravated by the fact that the defendants had assisted one another in doing so.  Charges of breaching the peace and causing damage to private property rounded up the list of charges.

46 year-old restaurant owner Elton Anthony Borg from Hamrun, 44 year-old Kurt Borg, also a restaurant owner from Hamrun, were charged under arrest together with Erica Borg, 42, a housewife from Msida, Redeimen Aquilina, 23 from Hamrun, Christian Mansueto, 33 from Siggiewi all pleaded not guilty and requested bail.

Inspector Elisia Scicluna told the court that the police had been sent to Hamrun after being informed that two officers had been assaulted. At the scene, the two officers had pointed out the individuals.

Elton Anthony Borg (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

Some ten to fifteen people had participated in the argument, said the inspector, adding that the three Borgs were arrested at which point the crowd started to disperse. 

Aquilina and Manseuto were first to be arrested. Mansueto was subsequently arrested at his residence by RIU officers. Franco Debono asked about the identities of the arresting officers and whether they had been informed of their rights at the time. The inspector replied with the arresting officers’ police numbers and confirmed that the suspects’ rights had been read to them and copies provided. The duty magistrate was informed about the arrests at 12:32 am. None of the other defendants contested the validity of the arrest.

Kurt Borg (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

The request for bail was objected to by prosecutor Jennifer Polidano, representing the Office of the Attorney General. “There was already tampering with evidence,” she said. “Mr. Borg’s restaurant CCTV cameras have been removed and the police were unable to extract footage,” said the inspector, adding that further arrests were a possibility. “A clear message must be sent out that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable to society.”

Inspector Elisia Scicluna argued that the risk to evidence was a real one. The testimony of the police officers who were assaulted is still yet to be heard. “When the police went to collect CCTV footage from the restaurant of one of the defendants this was not found and there is a risk that further evidence will be tampered with if the defendants are released on bail,” she said. The court was told that a bodycam had also been lost in the melee and was still being traced. 

Redeimen Aquilina (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

If bail were to be granted this would cause great disruption and commotion in society, argued the inspector. The police were there for the security and protection of the public, said the inspector, and had ended up being attacked by citizens whom they were protecting.
One of the defendants was already on bail, Polidano added.

Lawyer Franco Debono argued that Mansueto had never been in any trouble with the law before. “If someone out there thinks that getting bail means you are exonerated, that’s their problem.” 

“It is good that people can express themselves on social media, although maybe it would also be good to inform oneself about issues like bail, but the point must never be reached that the court be conditioned by the social media response.” 

Erica Borg (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

Magistrate Gatt pointed out that all he had before him at this point were the charges and identification documents.

“I am not going to discuss the merits,” said the lawyer, before proceeding directly to arguing on the merits that Mansueto had only been trying to separate the fighting parties.

Mifsud also picked up on the media coverage argument, adding that “the crowd had also picked Barabbas.” The media had not published footage of the incident that had been taken from another angle which, he said, showed a different story. 

While disclosing the evidence against his client, the police had shown him footage that “this chaos broke out over a silly thing,” he said. 

Christian Mansueto (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

“In Hamrun, because of the situation there, every shop invests in CCTV, so no tampering with evidence is possible,” added the lawyer. He argued that the fact that his client had changed his clothes after the incident did not mean that he was tampering with evidence.

Mifsud praised the police for allegedly informing him themselves that his client had intervened to break up the scuffle. The story had been blown out of proportion, he said, telling the court that once the facts emerged “the famous media will change its view.”

In his bail submissions, Xuereb alleged that third parties were also  involved in the incident, arguing that adopting a “one size fits all” approach to bail was a disservice to society. “All we have before us at the moment is a PIRS report and charges, so it is unfair to bring in social media and so on,” said the lawyer, adding that the adverse media coverage was prejudicial to his clients’ right to the presumption of innocence.

On his part, lawyer Arthur Azzopardi argued that the charges against his client, Erika Borg “all fell within the original competence of the Court of Magistrates.” Her behaviour during the incident was already preserved on the footage and could not be contradicted by any number of witnesses, he said. “If somehow the CCTV’s DVR went missing, my client is definitely not at fault because she was already in police custody at the time.”

The footage collected, both on mobile phones and on police bodycams, had good video and audio quality, he added. 

Polidano counter-argued that the prosecution “was not saying that the defendants should never be granted bail, but that it was too early a stage” for them to do so. The CCTV recording and the clothing of one of the defendants is yet to be found, she said. And while one of the defendants had been seen separating the fight, he was also seen throwing punches later, added the prosecutor.

After hearing the defence’s lengthy arguments, the court ultimately denied the requests for bail in view of the nature of the incident as well as the risk to evidence and ordered that the defendants be remanded in custody. 

Elton and Kurt Borg were assisted by lawyers Matthew Xuereb and Alex Scerri Herrera; Erica Borg, 42, was assisted by Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri; Redeimen Aquilina was assisted by lawyer Mario Mifsud and Nicholas Mifsud; Christian Mansueto was assisted by lawyers Franco Debono and Charles Mercieca.

Footage of the incident went viral after being captured on video by bystanders and updated to social media. The footage shows the officers being picked up and bodyslammed on the ground before being assaulted. One officer had attempted to use his pepper spray and taser while the other tried to fend off the attackers with a baton, but both were overwhelmed.

A few minutes later, backup units arrived and brought the situation under control. The 42 year-old woman was arrested at the scene, together with two men aged 46 and 44. Two other suspects fled but were later apprehended at their residences after being identified through investigations.

Parte civile lawyer Herman Mula told the court that the AG had not objected on the ground of adverse media, but said that the ECHR includes potential disruption of public order amongst the grounds for which bail should be refused. Although his clients are police officers, they were also victims, and not witnesses simply because they had conducted an investigation, which merits different treatment.

There was also the risk of collusion with potential witnesses, said the lawyer.

After hearing the defence’s lengthy arguments, the court ultimately denied the requests for bail due to the nature of the incident as well as the risk to evidence, and ordered the defendants be remanded in custody. 

Lawyers Franco Debono, Arthur Azzopardi, Jacob Magri, Charles Mercieca, Matthew Xuereb, Mario Mifsud and Nicholas Mifsud assisted the various defendants .

Lawyer Herman Mula is representing the two officers who were assaulted as parte civile.