Liam Debono's father chooses not to testify against son

In a short sitting of around an hour, a court has heard all evidence against Liam Debono, who was arrested while allegedly driving without a licence whilst on bail for severely injuring a policeman in a hit and run accident.

Debono was arrested in Triq Mikelang Sapiano in Luqa last month.

After hearing a number of police witnesses, the accused’s father was summoned to the stand. He declined to testify against his son, as is his right at law.

Earlier, a probation officer testified that the accused had tested positive for cannabis in April.

The owner of the Fiat in which the accused was arrested, Jason Zammit, was also summoned. He chose not to answer questions in court to avoid self-incrimination, but had told police at the scene that he had let the accused drive a short distance inside the garage when they were washing it.

His daughter, Kirstie, assisted by lawyer Andre Portelli, took the witness stand. She said she owned a Toyota Corsa and a BMW 1 Series which was in her sister’s name and which she hadn’t switched over yet. Her father had crashed the Corsa and had sold her the BMW, she said. She said she was certain that the cars were in the garage when she wasn’t there because she had both sets of keys.

The magistrate explained that police had seen her cars being driven. He warned her to tell the truth or that he would keep her in custody and order perjury proceedings to begin against her.

The witness said she didn’t know whether her father had made a spare key for himself.

After hearing the witnesses, both parties declared their evidence closed. Magistrate Joe Mifsud will pass sentence on 21 June.