Jury of burglar who injured elderly victim begins

The accused, who cannot be named as he was 17 at the time of the offence, is accused of breaking into the house of 81-year-old Dolores Debono on the 27 June 2006.

He stands charged with a multitude of offences, including causing grievous bodily harm leading to permanent debility or permanent disfigurement and attempted theft, both aggravated by place, means and person.

The victim, who is now 89, will not be testifying due to her frail health. Her testimony, gathered during the compilation of evidence, will however be exhibited during the trial.

The prosectuion, led by lawyers Giannella Busuttil and Nadia Attard from the Attorney General’s Office, is expected to present as witnesses the police officers involved in investigations, led by Superintendent Carmelo Bartolo and Inspector Daniel Zammit, and the medical doctors who examined the victim.

Inspector Zammit, a Criminal Investigations Department officer at the time, told the jury how Debono had told the police that three men had forced their way into her home in search of valuables. One of the men held her down and at one stage dragged her along the floor, injuring her in the process.

Debono said that two of the men had covered their faces, but the one who injured her had not. Debono told police officers that while she did not know who the man was, she was convinced that she could recognise him, and indeed picked the accused out of two separate identification parades and from photographs.

The woman suffered a fractured toe during the incident, which was deemed to be damage of a permanent nature.

Defence counsel Leslie Cuschieri, cross-examining Inspector Zammit, highlighted differences between Zammit’s testimony in the jury trial and his earlier statements during the compilation of evidence, however the inspector denied incorporating other testimony, made by other witnesses during the compilation of evidence, into his own.

The case continues.