Bail granted to HSBC hold-up suspect
Vincent Muscat, one of the men accused of the attempted hold-up at the HSBC depot in Qormi at the end of June, has been granted bail.
Darren Debono, 33, and Mr Muscat, 48, were charged on July 7 with the attempted hold-up and with the attempted murder of policemen in a subsequent shoot-out.
Mr Debono did not file a request for bail.
Mr Muscat is represented by Dr Chris Cardona while Dr Joe Giglio is legal counsel to Mr Debono - who was allegedly shot in the face during the hold-up.
Mr Muscat's initial request for bail in July had been turned down, even though Dr Cardona had argued that all witnesses were police officers and therefore there was no fear of tampering of evidence.
Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera had remanded him in custody because of the seriousness of the case and his previous 13 convictions, which included breaching of traffic regulations, illegal gambling and theft.
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Norman Xuereb
Oct 21st 2010, 02:31
Ara ta veru dan il-pajjiz ta... kif qatt jista jkun..... x'ma jghamlux aktar dawn in-nies meta ghandhom appogg assolut...
s.koludrovic
Oct 20th 2010, 15:14
13 must be his lucky number.Now that he,s out on bail he can carry on with his profession til his trial comes up in court.
adrian agius
Oct 20th 2010, 15:05
what have the police constables on duty that day showered by bullets by this gentleman have to say about this story???
Re: Mickey Mouse, this character invented by Walt Disney is a multi billionaire franchise!
I don't know why you compare this little so called country with Mickey!
Charles Zammit
Oct 20th 2010, 13:49
Decizjoni li tinstab biss f'xi episodju mill cartoon ta' Tom and Jerry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
C Borg
Oct 20th 2010, 11:44
None of you know the facts in the case. If all the facts were made public, only then will you be taken seriouly when posting an opinion.
Ian Galea
Oct 20th 2010, 11:54
There is one fact we do know Mr. Borg - 13 previous convictions, which included breaching of traffic regulations, illegal gambling and theft!
D.Galea
Oct 20th 2010, 12:20
Mr.Borg if you read the newspapers you would know for an indisputable fact that many who have been accused even for their first time of much lesser crimes have had much heftier conditions imposed over their bail after much more time then this person's own.
The sole conclusion from this is that some are be more equal then others in front of the Maltese law.
E Vella
Oct 20th 2010, 14:04
13 previous convictions is FACT we ALL know. enough said.
if any person commits 13 seperate convictions i would arrest him and make sure i throw the cell key in the middle of an unknown ocean.
u mela ntih l-bail....
Dominic Chircop
Oct 20th 2010, 11:33
The legal beagle who came up with this decision need not explain his actions to anyone. He is undoubtedly a luminary in his profession, and an honourable one at that, as the bard siad of Brutus and his friends.
And what right does a common mortal like me have to question such action ?
I must get it into my thick skull that as a member of the maltese swine, the powers that be have a divine right to treat me as such.
Had I at least been in Animal Farm, I might have fared a little better !
Minister of Justice and Home Affaurs, please take note.
Joe Caruana
Oct 20th 2010, 12:32
Have you ever thought what it might feel like to be shot at over 70 times without you wearing a bullet proof vest?? Can you imagine what a trauma the ppl involved, mostly the police officers who have risked their lives, might be going through????
Nonetheless, weren't 13 bloody convictions enough!??? If you don't act on the 14th, when will this guy get his lesson!????
THIS IS COMMON SENSE HERE!!! COME ON!!!
Daniel Gordon
Oct 20th 2010, 14:34
Joe, I believe you may have mistook his sarcasm for being in favour of the criminal.
I do not think he meant it in that way, but more as a provocation to the courts of (in)justice.
As you wrote 13 convictions must surely be enough. No need to wait for Nr 14.
P.Briffa
Oct 20th 2010, 10:41
What a state-of-the-art punishment !
Joe Caruana
Oct 20th 2010, 10:17
One word to describe this: RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vera pajjiz tal-Mickey Mouse!!!
Meta ha nitghallmu!??????
leli abdilla
Oct 20th 2010, 10:39
hekk sew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ara kif taghmlu ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
M. Curmi
Oct 20th 2010, 10:15
...and as John Bundy used to sing....."pajjiz tal-mickey mouse!"..
E Vella
Oct 20th 2010, 10:10
unbelievable!!!
Joe Grima Brussels
Oct 20th 2010, 10:05
So, Mr Muscat has been granted bail. We feel much safer at home now!!! After all, he has ONLY 13 previous convictions. The last time someone was described as 'a menace to society', was when he had 28 previous convictions. Mr Muscat is still off the mark,....as yet! After all, as they say, 'Nobody is perfect!'
How many others have to suffer by his actions before he is labelled as 'a menace to society?' Who's next on his agenda?