The Birkirkara police station is not one of the places defined by the law as a 'place of confinement' and so escaping from it cannot be put on par with escaping from jail, the appeal court ruled on Tuesday.
Leon Borg, 20, was being held there for questioning last June after he failed to keep his regular appointment with the bail book: daily at the Birkirkara police station and twice weekly at the Qawra station.
He was arrested but decided to take his leave, escaping through a window.
The man was subsequently recaptured and prosecuted for escaping from police custody as well as for breaching bail conditions, landing a conviction and an 8-month jail term. The Magistrates’ Court had also imposed the forfeiture of €11,000, imposed as a personal guarantee under one of the bail decrees.
During appeal proceedings, the defence argued that Maltese law did not punish the mere escape from places of confinement by persons who were held under arrest but not yet condemned by a court sentence.
Moreover, the Birkirkara police station did not figure among the ‘places of confinement’ envisaged under the Criminal Code which expressly mentioned the lock ups at the police headquarters, the law courts and the Police Administrative Unit in Victoria.
The appellant chose not to contest the charge of breaching his bail conditions, asking only for a lowering of the relative punishment.
The court of appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, agreed with the argument about the police station, observing that, as for the conviction for the breach of bail conditions, there existed ‘particular circumstances’ which called for justice to be done.
A medical certificate had been presented to justify Mr Borg's absence.
The court upheld the appeal and reduced the punishment from an 8-month prison term to a fine of €500. The forfeiture of the bail guarantee and the issue of a Treatment Order were also revoked.
He had been held under arrest for eight months, from the date of arraignment to the final appeal.
Arthur Azzopardi was defence counsel.