Judge concludes ex-plumber was behind theft from lawyer's house

Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court, yesterday found in favour of lawyer Joseph Zammit Tabona and his wife May and concluded that their former plumber and electrician had organised a theft from their home in St Julians in May 1995.

The Zammit Tabonas told the court Charles Saliba had robbed them and had promoted and organised the robbery that took place 11 years ago from their home.

The court heard that while the Zammit Tabonas were asleep, between five and seven thieves had entered their home through the roof door. Three of the men had gone into the Zammit Tabonas' bedroom and pushed both Dr Zammit Tabona and his wife to the ground. One of the men had broken Mrs Zammit Tabona's leg with his rifle while another man had pinned her husband to the floor by putting his foot on Dr Zammit Tabona's head. This man had told Dr Zammit Tabona to give him the two bucket loads of gold he had said he possessed.

According to Dr Zammit Tabona, the rest of the thieves had entered another room where the safe was kept and started to drag it out into the street. The men then found the key to the safe and emptied it of its contents.

As the thieves were leaving through the front door, Dr Zammit Tabona came out of his bedroom and saw them. He said that one of the thieves had not spoken throughout their ordeal and was the last one to leave. Dr Zammit Tabona testified that he recognised this man as Charles Saliba, his former plumber and electrician.

The court heard Dr Zammit Tabona say he had recognised Mr Saliba as he had known him personally for about 12 years. He told the court he knew Mr Saliba's walk, his physique and his ways, and that he was sure he had recognised him. It was only Mr Saliba, out of all the thieves, who had not spoken at all. The other thieves had accents that indicated they were from the south of the country and not from St Julians, like Mr Saliba.

Mr Justice Caruana Demajo declared that he believed Dr Zammit Tabona's version, for it was possible to recognise a person whom one knew well even if that person did not show his face and did not speak.

But the court said it also found a number of inconsistencies in Dr Zammit Tabona's testimony, adding that some of his arguments weakened rather than strengthened his allegation that Mr Saliba was responsible for the theft.

When referring to the testimony that one of the thieves had referred to "buckets of gold", the court said that according to Dr Zammit Tabona he had used this expression to reassure Mr Saliba that his bills would be paid. The thieves had referred to these buckets of gold and it was clear that they must have been told about it by Mr Saliba.

Mr Justice Caruana Demajo said he would have been more convinced had Dr Zammit Tabona simply said he had positively identified Mr Saliba and stopped at that, rather than referring to other circumstances. But Dr Zammit Tabona had left no doubt that he had identified Mr Saliba.

The court, therefore, found that Mr Saliba had participated in the theft, and put the case off for a decision on the damages award.