Forensic lab not equipped to carry out forensic tests

Magistrate Carol Peralta ordered that social equality, civil liberties and consumer affairs minister Helena Dalli is informed of the sorry state at the forensic labs and to rectify the situation immediately as it is adversely impinging on the administration of justice.

The notification was ordered after Dr Owen Cardona from the Forensic Lab this morning informed the court that he passed the DNA and semen forensic samples, related to a rape case, to Dr Marisa Cassar because he does not have the necessary equipment to carry out the tests.

The court also ordered that a transcript of the testimony regarding the forensic lab is passed to the Ministry.

Dr Cardona was called to testify in the compilation of evidence against Abdiraman Abukar, 26, and Liban Mohamoud, 26, both of Floriana, who are charged with the violent indecent assault of an Italian woman in the early hours of 25 March in Hal Far.

The two Somali nationals are also charged with holding the woman against her will, harassing her, offending public morals and slightly injuring her. The 21-year-old Italian, who resides in Valletta, filed a police report saying she was raped by a number of foreigners.

The court then called the director of the forensic lab at the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA) George Cutajar to explain the unacceptable situation at the laboratory. 

Cutajar said that in 2011 the MCCAA took over the forensic lab, however at the moment the laboratory is only equipped to carry out drug tests and gun shot residue tests.

The MCCAA director admitted that the forensic section needed more investment in equipment, personnel, training and maintenance.

However, he said "I have only been there for just over a year and the unit falls under the remit of minister Helena Dalli"

Later on, Darryl Zammit, took the witness stand and explained that he met his sister Roxanne, her Italian boyfriend Ludovigo Pandolfini and his sister in Paceville and agreed to give them a lift home.

They had just arrived near the Bocci Club in Floriana when his sister threw up in the car. Zammit got angry and kicked the group out of the car and went to his family's home in St Venera to clean his vehicle. He had driven towards Valletta as his sister and her boyfriend had asked him to drop them off there.

Next on the stand was Roxanne Zammit. She recounted how she went with her siblings at Hugo's in Paceville. She said that she arrived in Paceville at around midnight and stayed there until 3am.

"I had drunk excessively and do not remember much of what happened after", she said, adding that however she remembers descending from her brother's car in Floriana after throwing up.

The case was postponed to another sitting when the court will hear the testimony of the victim.

Inspectors Carol Fabri and Yvonne Farrugia prosecuted.