Valletta shooting suspect granted bail

The Valletta man charged in connection with the shooting near St. Elmo last June has been released on bail as the compilation of evidence against him continues.

Massimo Caruana, 35, is charged with the attempted murder of Noel Mifsud - the father of Caruana's sister’s children and who also had a relationship with Caruana's father’s ex-partner- after he shot him in the leg on the 16 June.

Caruana is pleading not guilty to that charge, as well as to charges of unlicensed carrying of a weapon, threatening Mifsud and his father and with breaching the peace.

Caruana has now been granted bail, Magistrate Josette Demicoli imposing a deposit of €6,000 and a personal guarantee of €10,000, also ordering him to observe a curfew and sign a bail book daily.

In a previous sitting, Mifsud’s father, Alfred, had testified how during an argument about the sale of a car, the accused had pulled out a handgun which had been tucked into the back of his trousers, shouting “I’ll shoot you! I’ll shoot you.”

The victim had tried to reason with the accused, the court heard, but Caruana had taken this to be a challenge. “You think I’m not going to shoot you,” the accused is alleged to have said,  before proceeding to point the firearm at the man’s left leg and pull the trigger.

Fortunately, Mifsud suffered only slight injuries.

In the latest sitting, PC Felix Vella testified how he, together with a colleague had been assigned to track down the accused, whom they soon spotted walking in Republic street.

Constable Vella called out to the accused who, he said, got in to the police car without protest. On his request, the accused was first taken to the Detox centre before being escorted to the police headquarters for questioning

Doctor Jonathan Joslin, who had treated the victim of the shooting, confirmed that the wounds were slight but added that at this stage he was unable to rule out future complications.

Inspector Daryl Borg prosecuted whilst lawyer Charmaine Cherrit assisted the accused.