Hairdresser identifies salon thief

The Żebbuġ hairdresser hailed a hero and dubbed Batman identified in court yesterday the man he said walked into his salon and pointed a gun at him.

Patrizio Parascandalo, 31, said he was behind the counter on January 14 when a man wearing a black balaclava walked in.

“He pointed a gun at me and then turned it to the other people in the shop. I gave him some money from the till but he wanted more,” Mr Parascandalo told Magistrate Anthony Vella yesterday.

He was testifying in the case of a 51-year-old Żebbuġ man, whose name cannot be published by court order, who is pleading not guilty to stealing about €1,300 from five shops in his hometown over a span of five weeks.

Mr Parascandalo said he did not hand over more money and the man pointed his gun at a 12-year-old boy who was crying under the counter. “He then turned the gun at me and I charged him,” he said.

In the struggle, Mr Parascandalo pulled off the man’s balaclava, exposing his face, and the two men fell onto a glass pane, shattering it. The intruder ran out of the shop and Mr Parascandalo followed. He met his mother’s cousin, Philip Micallef, outside and told him to help him look for the man.

“We walked up a side street and saw him. He spotted us and pointed the gun at me and Philip again but this time more menacingly,” the witness testified.

When asked by prosecuting officer Anthony Portelli whether he recognised the man he was talking about, Mr Parascandalo pointed to the accused.

Mr Micallef also identified the accused as the man who pointed a gun at him and Mr Parascandalo in the alleyway.

One of Mr Parascandalo’s employees, Karen Delmar, re­counted how she was washing a client’s hair when the hooded man walked in. “He never said a word. Patrizio gave him money but he wanted more,” Ms Delmar said.

She explained the man rubbed his thumb against two fingers to signify he wanted more money. “When I saw that Patrizio was getting into an argument with him, I ran out for help,” Ms Delmar said.

Although she caught a glimpse of the man’s exposed face while running out, she could not recognise him in court. “When I came back to the shop I found broken glass everywhere and the police were there,” she said.

Facing 16 charges, the man is pleaded not guilty to stealing cash, holding people against their will and being in possession of a weapon during thefts that took place in two pharmacies, a green grocer, an underwear shop and a hairdresser between December 18 and January 14. He also pleaded not guilty to slightly injuring Mr Parascandalo.

Following a request by defence counsel, Magistrate Vella appointed three psychiatrists to examine the man’s mental health and remanded him in custody at Mount Carmel Hospital.

Police Inspectors Anthony Portelli and Anthony Cachia prosecuted.

Lawyer Gabrielle Buttigieg and Daniela Mangion were defence counsel.