The Chief Justice has criticised a decision by a magistrate to place a man under house arrest against a deposit of €20,000 and personal guarantee of €30,000.

Daniel Briffa, 22, was charged late last month with the attempted murder of a Libyan man, Nezar El Gadi after allegedly slashing his throat. He was then granted bail against a personal guarantee of €5,000 by Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona. The Attorney General then appealed that decision as the victim had not yet testified and Mr Briffa was then re-arrested pending Mr El Gadi’s testimony.

Magistrate Edwina Grima who started hearing the compilation of evidence and Mr El Gadi’s testimony granted Mr Briffa bail again, placing him under house arrest against a deposit of €20,000 and a personal guarantee of €30,000.

Defence lawyer David Gatt appealed this decision saying that the amounts were excessive and the court did not take into consideration that his client was just a salesman.

Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano in a ruling said that the court went from one extreme to another, first by granting bail with just a personal guarantee in the original arraignment and then placing him under house arrest with a heavy deposit.

He added that the accused was either granted bail or not; the idea of house arrest was a contradiction in terms except for exceptional cases.

After reviewing the case and all the details the court said that after the main witness had been heard it made no sense to place the acused under house arrest as there was no fear that he might tamper with evidence.

The court added that the €20,000 deposit for a person that was on a minimum wage as a salesman meant that he would have to remain in custody even after there was no fear that he would tamper with the evidence.

Mr Chief Justice De Gaetano revoked the previous decision and ordered that Mr Briffa either placed a deposit of €5,000 or a guarantor made good the amount and placed a curfew on him.

The accused cannot leave his house before six a.m. and must be home by seven p.m. besides signing once a week at his local police station.