Magistrate fines suspect Lm400 for breaching bail conditions

Alfred Bugeja, known as Il-Porporina, was fined Lm400 for breaching bail conditions when he left his home when he should have been indoors.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard Mr Bugeja explain that he left his Valletta home to go to a health centre because he was in pain. He said he had phoned the Valletta police station to inform them accordingly but no one picked up the phone.

Last year, Mr Bugeja, 49, had been arraigned over the theft of a car and was granted bail on several conditions.

In yesterday's judgment, the magistrate noted that, among the bail conditions, Mr Bugeja was told that on Saturdays he could only leave his home between 8 and 9.30 a.m. and between 3 and 4 p.m. He was also to inform the police before leaving home.

The prosecution said that last Saturday, the police found him near a roundabout, with another three men, at 1.45 p.m.

Mr Bugeja said the men were taking him to a health centre because, as he suffered from gall stones, he was in pain.

He also said that earlier that morning, at about 11.30 a.m., he tried calling the Valletta police station to inform them that he needed to go to the health centre, but no one answered. The call showed up on his mobile phone, he added.

The magistrate also heard a police sergeant testify that, before he stepped onto the witness stand, he had tried calling the Valletta station but there was no answer.

The magistrate noted that breach of bail was a serious matter especially in such a case where Mr Bugeja had 41 convictions on his criminal record.

She noted that Mr Bugeja could have passed by the police station to inform them there that he had to go to the health centre. However, since no evidence was produced to contradict Mr Bugeja's claims of ill health, the magistrate gave him the benefit of the doubt in that he had left home for health reasons.

She fined him Lm400 for breaching bail conditions but rejected a request by the prosecution to revoke his bail.

The magistrate also ordered that a copy of the ruling be sent to the Police Commissioner so he could give the necessary directives to the police officers responsible for answering the phone at the Valletta police station. Police Inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Geoffrey Azzopardi prosecuted.

Lawyer Franco Debono was defence counsel.