Sliema elderly fearful of attacks following this week’s mugging

The general feeling among residents is that the victim was mugged . However, the Independent reports that, when contacted, the police did not confirm the injury sustained for fear of comprising ongoing investigations.

According to unconfirmed residents’ reports, the attack was not the only recent attack in the Sliema area, although it was the first incident in which the victim was critically injured. A number of elderly women have reportedly had their handbags snatched as they went about their daily lives. According to unconfirmed reports, there have been four cases of mugging in the area in the past three months.

Deputy Sliema mayor Cyrus Engerer told the same newspaper “We are aware of the residents’ concerns, following what we believe was a mugging incident.”

He said this aspect of safety was not usually an issue, where major concerns for residents tend to be potholed pavements and overflowing gutters. But following the incident this week, a number of elderly residents turned up at the Council’s office expressing their concern.

The matter was discussed during the last council meeting on Friday.

“During yesterday’s meeting proposed that we look into whether it was time to introduce the Neighbourhood Watch system, in order to do something about the residents’ concern,” Engerer said. The idea was not greatly welcomed, as some council members said previous attempts at introducing the system hadn’t worked.

Another suggestion for the installation of CCTV cameras was made, although, Engerer said, there are many grey areas on the issue.

Depending on the legal and placement aspects, general consensus shows a portion of the council’s budget would be allocated to installing CCTV cameras in the area, following councilor Bobby Cali’s proposal to have a mobile CCTV system to regularly keep an eye on streets.