Radio show presenter accused of making anonymous phone calls

Former Labour Party president and One Productions radio presenter Manuel Cuschieri appeared in court yesterday charged with making anonymous late-night phone calls to a woman earlier this year.

Mr Cuschieri is pleading not guilty to the charges brought against him.

Police Inspector Chris Pullicino testified that a woman from Qawra had filed a report complaining that someone was making anonymous phone calls to her in the middle of the night, from two onwards.

The phone calls took place around February. The number of the caller was withheld but the woman agreed to request a call profile from Vodafone, which indicated that it was a Go Mobile number.

In turn, the investigators and the woman made a request to Go Mobile for the identity of the caller, which is when Mr Cuschieri's number surfaced.

Inspector Pullicino said he had then shown the woman the number along with another two to see if she recognised it and, in fact, she did as she knew Mr Cuschieri. The witness said he had then approached Mr Cuschieri about the matter. Mr Cuschieri denied having made the phone calls, saying he was "not aware of the calls" and that he would be asleep at the time the calls were made. He even excluded the possibility that someone else could have been making the calls on his behalf.

However, the woman, who testified after Ins. Pullicino, said that Mr Cuschieri had told her he was going through a rough patch at the time.

In fact, the woman wanted to drop the charges against Mr Cuschieri saying the matter was an unfortunate incident. However, Inspector Pullicino explained he was not in a position to do so.