Insect repellent used in hold-up of prostitute

Three men were charged with holding up a prostitute who had insect repellent sprayed on her face before a gun was pointed to her head and robbed of €1,165 worth of jewellery.

Charles Grima, 45, Anthony Cutajar, 39, and Allister Camilleri,28, were arrested after eyewitnesses noted the registration number of their getaway cars.

Police Inspector Jeffrey Cilia explained that Mr Camilleri phoned up Mr Grima, an inmate at Mount Carmel Hospital, saying that he was broke and asked whether he wanted to "sort their money problems out". Mr Grima agreed and, with his girlfriend tagging along, picked Mr Camilleri and later Mr Cutajar.

They went to a prostitute's apartment in Gżira where Mr Camilleri asked to use the toilet. When he returned he was holding a can of Pif Paf, which he sprayed on the prostitute's face before putting a pistol to her head.

He shouted at her to hand over all she had. Terrorised, the woman screamed for help, alerting passers by and scaring her assailants who took off running down the road.

They jumped into the grey Hyundai Pony they had used to travel to Gżira and sped off to try and find a jeweller to sell the gold to.

They got to Ray's jewellers in Fgura where they sold two gold bangles, a choker and a matching bracelet for €1,165. By the time the police arrived to retrieve the items, the shop owner had already melted them.

Inspector Cilia said the police managed to trace the getaway car in Attard where they also found Mr Grima and his girlfriend.

Mr Camilleri pleaded guilty to committing the armed robbery, holding her against her will and relapsing while Mr Grima and Mr Cutajar both pleaded guilty to being accomplices in the crime. Mr Cutajar also pleaded guilty to relapsing.

After taking into consideration the seriousness of the charges, Magistrate Doreen Clarke jailed Mr Camilleri for three years and six months, Mr Cutajar for two years and six months and Mr Grima was given a two-year jail term suspended for four years in light of the fact that he has a clean police record.

Lawyer Patrick Valentino appeared as legal aid to the men.