A police inspector said today that the three men who attempted to rob the HSBC depot in Qormi last June had good knowledge of the building, but the police had so far been unable top identify anyone who could have given them inside information on the layout of the building.
Inspector Joseph Mercieca was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Fabio Psaila, who stands accused of involvement in the hold-up and the attempted murder of two policemen who foiled it.
The inspector told the court that CCTV had recorded the robbers gaining access to the building through a fire escape.
They then used emergency code tags to open two security doors.
Another security tag was used to open the door to the control room but it failed. They tried using another tag, and the door opened.
The tag which did not work belonged to the supervisor of the bank’s cash depot. He had said he had lost it, but denied giving it to anyone.
There was no footage of the men as they walked from the fire escape, to the control room and there were no CCTVs in the control room itself. Telephone calls made to the control room were not recorded.
The inspector said he had also noted that in the footage taken by CCTV outside the fire escape, people wearing dark clothes were sometimes not picked up by the camera.
Once they entered the control room, the robbers escorted security officer Jesmond Muscat out and bound him. Another security officer, Ivan Azzopardi, had told the police that he noticed that one of the robbers was wearing a large watch. This watch, or a similar one, was later found in possession of Darren Debono, one of the men accused of involvement in the crime.
The police later received information that (former inspector) David Gatt had boasted that he had a person who worked at the bank with whom he had been planning the hold-up.
The robbers were alerted to the presence of policemen by somebody standing guard outside. A shootout then took place and 55 cartridges from shots fired by the robbers were subsequently found in the street.
The police also found a wig, a black briefcase which contained a revolver and a number of tie clip.
A police car and two cars belonging to bank employees were damaged in the shooting.
At Mosta the police also found the burnt remains of a jeep with fake registration plates and two burnt pistols, including one stolen from the security guard moments earlier. The serial numbers were not destroyed. The seats had been removed from the Jeep, possibly to make way for the cash which the robbers had planned to steal from the bank.
During the search for Fabio Psaila, a police office was sent to search the area known as Tal-Patata in Marsa. He spotted a suspicious car and sought assistance. He then spotted a fire burning in an oil drum. Some clothes were inside. The clothes could have been blood stained.
Defence counsel Manuel Mallia complained that all this evidence had not linked Fabio Psaila to the crime in any way.