Police Inspector charged with threatening Commissioner

Suspended Police Inspector Jeffrey Cilia was yesterday charged with threatening four colleagues, including Police Commissioner John Rizzo, while drunk.

Mr Cilia, 38, of Attard, pleaded not guilty to threatening Mr Rizzo, Assistant Commissioner Lawrence Cauchi and Superintendent Dominic Micallef in Floriana on Thursday evening.

He also pleaded not guiltyto threatening Police Inspector Louise Calleja, damaging thefront door of her Sliema home,and entering while in a drunken state.

The inspector was also charged with sending her a number of threatening text messages and misuse of electronic equipment.

Mr Cilia was in the headlines last December after he was charged in court with attacking three brothers in Paceville.

The Police Commissioner himself investigated the case and, before interrogating him, had warned Mr Cilia that his breath smelt of alcohol, court testimony revealed. He was granted bail and suspended from the force.

Mr Cilia, who denies the charges, was again granted bail yesterday.

Last week another former policeman, Sergeant Adrian Lia, was charged with stealing cash from police headquarters, amounting to about €30,000 over two years.

Following Mr Lia’s arraignment, the Attorney General accepted a request by the Police Commissioner to reopen a magisterial inquiry into the 2008 death of Nicholas Azzopardi while he was in police custody.

Mr Lia was one of the escorting officers when Mr Azzopardi is believed to have jumped off a bastion to his death at the police headquarters.