On the run for three weeks with 55 shotgun pellets in his body

Wanted criminal Fabio Psaila remained on the run for three weeks even if he had 55 shotgun pellets in his body, a court heard yesterday.

“X-rays and CT scans revealed that Mr Psaila had 55 lead pellets in his body; 34 were found his right hand. One pellet was dangerously close to his liver and could have been fatal,” Police Inspector Anthony Portelli told Magistrate Audrey Demicoli.

Mr Psaila, 36, of Sta Venera, is pleading not guilty to the attempted theft of jeweller Michael Mizzi and his son Silvio on December 5 and holding them against their will in Attard.

Mr Portelli said Mr Psaila disappeared after the Attard hold-up when three hooded men attacked the Mizzis at about 8.20 p.m. just seconds after the two parked in front of their house.

“A hooded man armed with a car jack asked Mr Mizzi for his briefcase and another two hooded men, armed with a shotgun, approached his son,” Mr Portelli testified.

Mr Mizzi refused to hand over the briefcase and the robber hit him on the head. He fell to the ground but did not let go of his briefcase – which had €3,000 in cash and about €500 worth of gold – even though the man tried to take it from him. The attacker hit Mr Mizzi again on the head, cutting open his scalp and his left cheek, the witness said.

While on the ground, Mr Mizzi heard shots and thought his son had been injured. But the shots had been fired by the son who had managed to wrestle the shotgun out of his assailants’ hands. “He picked up the shotgun, armed it and fired at the two men who were running away,” Mr Portelli said. He then turned to the man who was at that point hitting his father a second time and fired at him.

The assailant, who turned out to be Darren Debono, It-Topo, collapsed in agony. He was in a lot of pain but was receiving medical attention.

On the ground nearby, the police found a black balaclava that had a sports logo on it, a crumpled cigarette packet, a set of keys and black gloves. There was also a sawn-off shotgun and three spent cartridges, Mr Portelli said.

That evening, the police started looking for Mr Psaila who was also wanted in another investigation involving former police inspector and now lawyer David Gatt.

Dr Gatt, who had nicknamed Mr Psaila “the general”, is accused of being the mastermind behind three attempted hold-ups, including the failed heist on the Qormi HSBC headquarters, and running a criminal organisation modelled on the mafia.

Police Constable Mario Portelli, who was the star witness in Dr Gatt’s court case, was approached by the lawyer who was trying to find a doctor to medicate Mr Psaila’s wounds.

The witness said the search for Mr Psaila intensified after Dr Gatt contacted PC Portelli and the police searched houses all over Malta in an attempt to find him. They even monitored his two bank accounts to see if there was any activity but the last transaction registered was on December 1.

Then, on Boxing Day, Mr Psaila turned himself in at the CID offices at police headquarters at about 7 p.m. asking for Assistant Police Commissioner Pierre Calleja.

Mr Calleja spoke to Mr Psaila and Mr Portelli then accompanied him to hospital for treatment. The following day, on December 27, Mr Psaila was interrogated by the investigating officers but refused to reply to all the questions put to him. “I was on the moon,” was one of his few replies, Mr Portelli recalled.

Mr Psaila is pleading not guilty to a total of 30 charges which include the attempted murder of two police officers and the attempted hold-up of the Qormi HSBC headquarters.