Police officers who shot and killed a Libyan man in a hostage situation two years ago have been highly praised by the investigating magistrate.

"In spite of a situation fraught with imminent danger, the police actions can only be described as very brave, which shows both the level-headedness as well as discipline that led them to move with controlled determination," Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima said.

The police action was beyond reproach, highly commendable and admirable, she noted.

The inquiry report, which has been forwarded to the Attorney General, recounts how Melud Gumma Ashur Salem, a 29-year-old Libyan married to a Maltese, was under the strong influence of alcohol on December 3, 2002, when he created a commotion in Triganza Street, Luqa.

He took an elderly man hostage but was shot dead by the police following a tense, 30-minute stand-off during which the hostage was repeatedly stabbed with a carving knife.

Mr Melud's colleague, Saad Abdel Rahman, testified that he had seen Mr Melud consume three bottles of wine that afternoon. Toxicological tests carried out by Michael Sammut showed a strong presence of alcohol in his blood.

The magistrate said that Mr Melud's actions before the incident could only be described as "frenetic". He attacked Andrew Agius's family with a broken bottle and then with a large stone, stole a large knife from the OK Bar, broke into several properties and took an elderly man hostage.

"Against this background of dramatic scenes, the role of the police was very difficult," the magistrate said.

The events started to unfold late in the evening when the police were informed that there was an argument in progress at the OK Bar in Luqa at about 7.55 p.m. and that a person had stolen a big carving knife.

Police officers from the Paola district went on the scene and called for the assistance of the mobile squad. They found an Arab, who was brandishing a knife, hanging by some electricity cables.

It transpired that at about 7 p.m. Mr Melud had called at his in-laws' house where his wife, with whom he had fallen out, and seven-month old daughter were.

The inquiry report says that he started banging on the door with a bottle, which broke. He was heard shouting that he had gone to "tear his wife and baby to pieces".

When no one opened the door, he went round the block, knocked on a door and when they opened for him, he rushed upstairs and went on the roof to gain access to his in-laws' roof.

He jumped from one roof to the next and then tried to climb down into a balcony close to his in-laws' residence. When he failed, he climbed onto the roof again and came face to face with Joseph Camilleri, 72, whom he stabbed and took hostage. Mr Camilleri had gone on the roof to lock the door.

The police started trying to negotiate with Melud and told him that if he stopped, they would bring his daughter to see him. But Melud continued prodding the hostage with his knife.

"The Libyan started invoking God and at one point appeared to be trying to commit suicide and pull the elderly man down with him," the report says.

Police Sergeant Joseph Muscat, who was shadowing the Libyan, repeatedly tried to persuade him to surrender so that he could take him to see his daughter. He also repeatedly asked him to stop pressing the knife against the hostage's throat.

"He could see the old man bleeding from his side. The Libyan started shouting that he did not care for his life and that God knew everything," the magistrate noted.

He then jumped over a low dividing wall, dragging the wounded hostage with him.

The ordeal lasted for about 35 minutes and the Libyan kept telling the police to back off. PS Muscat told the officers not to trust Mr Melud and when he saw that the latter was about to slash Mr Camilleri's throat, he instructed them to withdraw.

The Libyan was constantly using the hostage to shield himself but, at one point, the hostage fainted and fell. Having seen that the aggressor had lost his human shield for a few moments, PS Muscat gave the order to shoot.

"It was as Mr Melud dropped his knife and tried to pick it up again that the police shot him again," the magistrate reported.

"People were angry at the police because they did not shoot him immediately and started calling them mejtin (hopeless) as they saw him holding a knife to the elderly man's neck," the report says.

The magistrate noted that people were urging the police to shoot the Libyan but it was only when the Libyan tried to throw the elderly man off the roof and when they had ascertained they would not hurt Mr Camilleri that they opened fire.

Mr Melud was hit in the chest, the abdomen and in the left arm. He remained standing when hit the first time and was shot again. One of the revolvers had a misfire, indicating that one of the policemen had tried to shoot but the cartridge was faulty.

The magistrate said the police could not have done otherwise and had words of praise for them. She noted that they repeatedly tried to negotiate in an attempt to persuade the Libyan to surrender his weapon and release his hostage but he persisted.

"The police were in contact with the Libyan for a full 30 minutes even though he had stabbed the elderly man, who was bleeding heavily," the report noted.

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