Darryl Borg, the man wrongly accused of an armed robbery at a convenience store, appeared before the Police Board yesterday along with the two Criminal Investigations Department inspectors who had arraigned him.

The board, headed by Judge Franco Depasquale, is tasked with establishing why CID police inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Carlos Cordina mistakenly accused Mr Borg of a crime he had not committed.

Police Inspector Elton Taliana, from the Birkirkara district, who arraigned the right culprit two days after Mr Borg had appeared in court and was detained in custody, is expected to appear before the board on Monday. The board has already held two sittings, one on Saturday and the other yesterday, which took five hours.

The charges originally brought against Mr Borg were formally withdrawn by the police on Monday. He was released from custody on Friday soon after 22-year-old Roderick Grech confessed to having held up the shop.

Mr Borg yesterday filed a lawsuit demanding compensation (see page 2).

He told Times of Malta he had been interrogated by four police officers who bombarded him with questions, told him they were there to help him and advised him that he had better admit to the charges to secure a lesser punishment.

He also claimed that CID officers told him they had crystal clear photographic evidence showing it was him who committed the crime.

The two CID inspectors who arraigned him said in court that Mr Borg had been identified through CCTV footage.

As Police Board proceedings are held behind closed doors, it could not be established yesterday what Mr Cordina and Mr Mercieca said.

When Mr Grech appeared in court last Friday, Mr Taliana said that he had made a full admission and even handed over the balaclava and the plastic toy gun that were used during the hold-up, which was captured on CCTV.

He also said it was clear that the person seen in the footage matched Mr Grech’s stature.

Mr Grech was sentenced to 12 months in jail suspended for four years after the court heard that he used the €630 he had stolen to settle gambling debts.