Bomb 'was meant to injure people'

The bomb planted on the doorstep of a police officer's house 10 years ago was aimed at injuring people rather than damaging the building, an explosives expert told jurors yesterday.

On analysing the crater left by the bomb and the pieces of metal dispersed, among other observations, court expert Albert Camilleri concluded that the bomb placed outside the Zabbar home of Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Cassar, who was then an inspector, was of the detonating type containing high explosive material, which he suspected was ammonium nitrate-based.

In this case, apart from the explosive material there were bits of metal that did not match the metal of the bomb's container, suggesting the metal had been added to the cocktail of explosives to make the bomb more deadly. The bomb was anti-personnel as opposed to anti-property, the expert concluded.

He was testifying before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono in the trial by jury of Emanuel Camilleri, 40, of Mqabba, known as Leli Il-Bully, who is pleading not guilty to the attempted murder of the officer and his family and endangering their lives when he caused an explosion on May 23, 1994.

Camilleri is also pleading not guilty to trafficking in heroin and cocaine between May 1994 and June 1998 and seriously injuring Marco Abdilla when he shot him in the leg on March 21, 1998.

During his testimony the court expert gave a detailed explanation of the different types of explosions and the way they worked. He explained that ammonium nitrate was stored and transported to gravel and sand quarries, where it was used for blasting, under tight security. Any leftover from the quarries was to be sent back to the stores but he could not exclude that any unexploded material was not picked up by someone.

Under cross-examination the expert said that a bomb of the sort could not penetrate a wall but, through ricochets, it could injure people nearby.

Assistant Attorney General Anthony Barbara, prosecuting, then read out the two statements and two testimonies given by Abdilla in 1998, who has since passed away from natural causes.

In his first statement to the police, released on June 16, 1998, Abdilla explained that on that day he had been arrested after the police seized six sachets of heroin from his house. Abdilla said he had bought nine sachets from Camilleri for Lm50 for his personal use and had already consumed three.

He explained that he originally bought between 40 and 50 grammes of cocaine every fortnight, at Lm20 a gramme, from Camilleri but eventually stopped buying the cocaine. He added that he always bought drugs from Camilleri and had accumulated a Lm30,000 debt.

After some time, Abdilla told the police, Camilleri threatened he would kill him if he did not pay up and on one occasion Camilleri went to his house at night and shot him in the foot. When Camilleri learnt that he had not exposed him to the police he did not insist on payment any longer.

Abdilla also said that sometime in May 1994 Camilleri had said he wanted to pay back Michael Cassar because he was arresting several people in the drug scene.

When Abdilla asked him what he had in mind, Camilleri told him he wanted to hurt the officer's family.

Camilleri then asked him to plant a bomb in front of the officer's main door in exchange for 200 grammes of cocaine. Abdilla turned down the request explaining he did not want to end up in jail and his conscience did not allow him to accept. Camilleri told him he would manufacture and plant the bomb himself.

Abdilla added that Camilleri had shown him the bomb. It was a pipe, about 10 inches long, with a two-foot long wick coming out of it.

Abdilla said that sometime in September 1995 he met Charles Muscat, known as Il-Pips, in jail and Muscat told him he knew that Camilleri had asked him to plant the bomb in exchange for drugs. Muscat also knew that Camilleri had planted the bomb himself.

On the same day he released the statement, Abdilla confirmed it under oath in the presence of a magistrate. That day he also confirmed he was ready to testify in court.

But when Abdilla was called to the witness stand on August 20 1998, he refused to testify in the presence of the accused. When he was called to testify again six days later he said that while he was in jail Muscat told him that he wanted Camilleri jailed and told him (Abdilla) to tell the police that Camilleri had offered him 200 grammes to plant the bomb. He also said he did not know Camilleri and never bought drugs from him.

The trial continues.

Dr Michael Sciriha and Dr John Attard Montalto are appearing for Camilleri.