Darryl Borg was wrongly locked up for a crime he did not commit.

The Office of the Prime Minister would not say whether it agreed that the Police Board did not have the remit to question an investigation that led to the wrong man being arraigned over a hold-up.

“The Prime Minister gave a clear brief to the independent Police Board to look into the case of mistaken arraignment that was widely reported in the media in the days before August 9,” a spokesman said.

However, the spokesman did not specifically comment on whether Joseph Muscat was satisfied with the board’s conclusion or its claim that it had not been mandated to “look into how the police conducted their investigations” unless lack of transparency was suspected.

The board had been asked by the Prime Minister to investigate the case after Roderick Grech, 22, was convicted of a hold-up on a Birkirkara confectionery two days after the police had wrongly charged Darryl Borg, 27, with the same crime.

The 13-page report containing the Police Board’s findings did not say whether the Criminal Investigation Department officers, who charged the wrong man, had a reasonable suspicion to proceed in court with the charges.

The report notes that the CID acted on the basis of a tip-off by an informant and the fact that neither Mr Borg nor his mother could provide a solid alibi on Mr Borg’s whereabouts at the time the crime was committed.

He had been convicted of a few thefts in the past and investigators felt his hairstyle looked very much like that of the perpetrator as seen on the confectionary’s CCTV footage. The board commented on this point, saying that though the hairstyle looked similar, the rest of his appearance did not. Yet, the board did not look any further into this point.

It reccomended disciplinary action against a police inspector for failing to raise the alarm as soon as he found out that his colleagues had mistakenly arrested the wrong man.

This Government is committed to tackle the various problems it inherited due to the scandalous incompetence under the previous Administration

The board, led by Judge Franco Depasquale, was critical of the fact that Inspector Elton Taliana, from the Birkir­kara district, had failed to notify his superiors that a mistake had been committed and instead, proceeded with the arraignment.

Times of Malta asked the Prime Minister whether he was satisfied with the outcome and to comment on the fact that the board appeared more worried with the damage to the police corps’ public image than with the fact that an investigation had reached the wrong conclusions.

The Office of the Prime Minister addressed neither question directly and referred to the fact that the Police Commissioner ordered his own internal inquiry that would be looking specifically at the CID investigation.

“The Police Board is an independent board and its investigations have given light to a number of issues which the Police Force is addressing.

“If anything, the report exposes how the systems inherited over the years lack proper checks and balances that need to be addressed,” the spokesman said.

In a dig at the Opposition, which described the report’s conclusions as a travesty of justice, the spokesman said the police faced a number of chronic problems that had been inherited from the previous Administration.

“This Government is committed to tackle the various problems it inherited due to the scandalous incompetence at the Home Affairs Ministry under the previous Administration.”