Charged with €20,000 burglary

Two men were yesterday remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to burgling at house in Żabbar almost a year ago and stealing €20,000 in jewellery and cash.

Freddie Dalli, 32, from Żabbar, and Christopher Scerri, 31, from Gżira, both unemployed, were charged the offences after ransacking the house in Marsascala Road at 7.45 a.m. on September 6, last year.

Police Inspector Keith Arnaud explained that Mr Scerri, who appeared in court sitting in a wheelchair with pins sticking out of his right leg, was one of the suspects when the police started to investigate the theft. But he had to be released as the police did not have enough evidence linking him to the crime.

However, subsequently, the police managed to arrest a third man who, both in his statement and then again in court, pleaded guilty to participating in the theft and was sentenced.

The inspector said this man – whom he never mentioned by name – was the prosecution’s main witness and was expected to testify against the two men during their proceedings.

Apart from charges related to the burglary, the two men were also charged with relapsing.

Moreover, Mr Scerri alone is further charged with committing a crime during the operative term of two suspended sentences and with breaching the conditions of yet another release.

Police inspectors Arnaud and Fabian Fleri prosecuted while lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Franco Debono appeared for the accused.