Valletta man granted bail after threatening police officers

A 43-year-old man from Valletta pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of threatening police officers following an incident during the night of 23–24 August. Magistrate Ingrid Bianco presided over the bail hearing. Officers from Valletta police station were conducting a road check in Floriana when they observed a vehicle travelling the wrong way down a one-way street.

They followed and stopped the vehicle and allegedly detected a smell of alcohol on the driver. The man refused to take a breathalyser test and was taken to Valletta police station. While at the station, the accused allegedly insulted and threatened the officers, saying: "Don't set up another roadblock in Floriana because I'll drive over you."

After he stated in the lock-up that he wanted to kill himself, he was taken by ambulance to hospital for a psychiatric assessment. During that journey he allegedly said: "If I see the police officers again, I'll take their lives." A drug test conducted on the accused returned a negative result.

He was discharged from hospital and brought to court. The accused, who works as a dishwasher in a pizzeria, did not contest the validity of his arrest and the court declared the arrest valid. Inspector Abigail Pomroy, leading the prosecution, objected to bail, citing the threats made against officers who had been caring for the accused.

She also pointed to a previous case from March in which the accused was fined for a similar offence against a public officer. During interrogation, the accused exercised his right not to answer when asked whether he regretted his actions; the prosecution cited the absence of expressed remorse as a further concern. Defence lawyer Rachel Tua argued the charges did not warrant continued detention and that there was no risk of evidence tampering because the incident had been recorded on police cameras.

The court granted bail, setting conditions of a €1,000 cash deposit and a €7,000 personal guarantee. The accused must sign the bail book at Sliema police station every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday between 8am and 8pm and is prohibited from approaching or contacting prosecution witnesses. Protection orders were issued in favour of the police officers involved and their families.