Drunk man threatened Police Commissioner

In a drunken stupor, Jeffrey Cilia warned Police Commissioner John Rizzo that he was his biggest enemy and that included his wife, their children and their children’s children.

The warning came as Mr Cilia, a former police inspector, was sitting in his white BMW X5 outside the police headquarters in Floriana and Mr Rizzo was trying to persuade him to get out, a court heard yesterday.

Mr Cilia stands charged with threatening Mr Rizzo, Assistant Police Commissioner Lawrence Cauchi and Superintendent Dominic Micallef on March 29 at about 9.30 p.m.

He also denies threatening Police Inspector Louise Calleja and damaging the front door of her Sliema home on the same night.

The incident started at Ms Calleja’s home and Mr Cilia then drove to the headquarters where he spat on the Police Commissioner’s car and told a policeman stationed at the main gate that “the Nationalists gave him that”.

A mobile squad car arrived on the scene and Mr Cilia drove off.,according PC Jeffrey Abela, who was in one of two cars following him. He said they lost him because the police car could not match the power of the BMW.

He was later spotted again and Mr Cilia drove back to the police headquarters.

At one point, Mr Rizzo, accompanied by Mr Cauchi and Mr Micallef, came out of the police depot and Mr Rizzo spoke to him.

PC Abela, PC Alessio Spiteri and PC Michael Galdes recalled that Mr Cilia called Mr Rizzo a “cabbage from Cospicua” and swore at all of them.

He told them: “F*** the uniform you wear”. When an officer searched his car, he told him: “What are you expecting to find? Your mother?”

The case continues.