Depasquale recommends disciplinary action against Inspector Taliana

Findings from the police board inquiry into the wrongful prosecution of 27-year-old Darryl Luke Borg concluded that Police Inspector Elton Taliana had failed to inform investigating officers that a second suspect had been interrogated and admitted to committing the crime while Borg was in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

It also recommended that disciplinary measures should be taken against Taliana. The 13-page report was published by the Ministry for Home Affairs.

Compiled by judge emeritus Franco Depasquale, the report was delivered to the home affairs minister Manuel Mallia and Commissioner of Police Peter Paul Zammit who has now assessed what steps should be taken based on the findings of the report.

The board concluded that Taliana failed to take the necessary steps which would have immediately freed Borg from prison while a second man was pleading guilty to the charges.

"Inspector Taliana failed to cooperate with the other police officers who worked on the case and instead proceeded hastily alone without communicating with his colleagues or superiors," the Police Board said.

It argued that Taliana kept his silence while "being fully aware" that a second person had been accused with the same crime.

"The board recommends that steps should be taken to avoid a repetition of this case while the Police Commissioner should take disciplinary measures against Elton Taliana for his serious shortcoming," Judge Depasquale, who has been heading the board for the past 10 years, said.

The Police Board never treated Borg as the "main witness" since its role was to analyse the work carried out by the police officers involved. What was reported in the media on the alleged involvement of Silvio Scerri and convicted criminal Charles Attard iz-Zambi was not pertinent to the inquiry.

On 7 August, CID inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Carlos Cordina arraigned Borg, charged with a hold-up committed at the Convenience Shop in Birkirkara three days before.

According to the Police Board, it is the Court that decides whether a person was guilty of a crime or not, and until then Borg was innocent until proven guilty.

Borg, who has a drug problem and is receiving treatment at Mount Carmel Hospital, was remanded in custody after prosecuting officers objected to the bail given his past record.

The CID officers also set an email to all Police Departments informing them that a

During their investigation that led to Borg's arrest, CID officers received a tip-off from an informer that Borg had carried out the hold-up. At the same time, Inspector Taliana - who was carrying out the district investigation - was analysing CCTV footage of the area when the CID officers informed him they had found the culprit [Borg] and he would be arraigned.

But after Borg was charged with the crime, Taliana received a tip-off that the police had arraigned the wrong suspect.

According to the inquiry, Taliana followed up on the tip-off which led him to call Roderick Grech, 22 of Birkirkara, in for questioning. Grech admitted to the crime and also presented the balaclava and pistol used in the hold-up.

Taliana, according to the Police Board, still failed to let anyone know. It also transpired that the Inspector had sought advice on how to draw up the charges.

According to the report, it was only when Grech was to be arraigned before Magistrate Claire Stafrace that Taliana revealed another person had been charged with the same crime.

The Police Board also said that after Grech was arraigned, Taliana sent out an email to all Police Corps addresses, including their chaplain and doctor to let them know that Grech had been arraigned.