Raymond Zammit, who was removed from the post of Acting Police Commissioner in December, insisted yesterday he was not demoted or told to resign following the Manuel Mallia incident.

During an interview on RTK radio, Mr Zammit said he had no fault in the incident which led to the sacking of former Home Affairs and National Security Minister Manuel Mallia.

“I was never a Police Commissioner but only acting in that role,” Mr Zammit pointed out. “I did nothing wrong throughout the whole incident and that is why I continued to serve in my role as Deputy Police Commissioner. No one ever asked me to resign and I was not demoted, as many tried to say.”

Acknowledging that were it not for the incident, he would have likely continued to serve as Acting Police Commissioner and possibly been given a permanent appointment, Mr Zammit said he accepted the Prime Minister’s decision to remove him from office as acting commissioner, even though he did not agree with it.

“I have no problem with accepting that decision. But I did nothing wrong”, he stressed.

I did nothing wrong throughout the incident; that is why I continued to serve in my role

Last November, Paul Sheehan, a police constable, who at the time served as Dr Mallia’s driver was involved in a car chase after a motorist hit his ministerial car. Mr Sheehan used his service pistol to shoot at the other driver, hitting his car twice. Subsequently, basing his decision on the findings of an inquiry, Dr Muscat said Mr Zammit had failed in his duties and his course of action helped to strengthen cover-up claims.

According to Dr Muscat, Mr Zammit was removed because he was grossly unprofessional in carrying out his duties.

Dr Muscat also asked Dr Mallia to resign, as he had failed to correct inaccuracies in a government statement on the incident – which spoke of warning shots being shot in the air – even though his attention had been drawn.

Dr Mallia did not step down and was later fired.