One of the two policemen who disrupted a hold-up at HSBC centre at the end of last month, spoke in court this morning of how he came face-to-face with the robbers as they were coming out of the building.
PC Kenneth Ciangura told a court during the compilation of evidence against two men charged with the crime, that he had been in a police car on patrol with a colleague when they received a call from control room telling them to investigate a suspicious car in front of HSBC Centre in Qormi.
They were told by control room that there were three persons in the car. However when they approached it in their police car they saw that there was only one man. The suspicious car came slowly out of the parking space. They drove behind it and as soon as the driver realised he was being followed, he sped off and they lost the car.
They searched for the car near Fleur-de-Lys and then went back to HSBC Centre, parking further up from the ATM.
PC Ciangura said he got out of the car and walked up to the bank. As he went up the steps, outside the building, three men dressed in suits and wearing wigs came down. They did not see him and he did not see them. They came face to face and the three men turned abruptly and dashed back in.
He went running back to the car as they started firing shots at him.
The constable said he fired two warning shots into the air but when he realised they were shooting at him, he started firing back.
The constable said he and his colleague told the control room that they were being shot at and called for reinforcement. They then crossed the road and hid behind a Daihatsu car. Shots continued to be exchanged, and the constable said he counted around 61 shots in all.
He himself fired 17 shots and his colleagues a further 14 and only had one bullet left.
As they were firing, a Kia Sorrento drove past them, stopped in front of the bank and the three men run into it and off they went.
The policemen fired at the back of the Sorrento and then they gave chase in their own car, but as soon as they rounded the corner, they did not see the getway car anywhere.
PC Kurt Gauci also gave evidence, repeated the same version of events.
Mario Bartolo, manager of HSBC Centre security, said that procedure in place at the time include security access cards rather than keys, which the staff could use to access various parts of the building. Every staff member had a card, with access restricted to some members of staff.
Asked about procedures, he said these were security sensitive issues, and his evidence was then heard behind closed doors.
Darren Debono, 33, and Vincent Muscat, 48 have been charged with the attempted murder of constables Ciangura and Gauci as well as with holding Constable Dominic Bugeja, a member of the Special Assignments Group, who was guarding the entrance to the Qormi bank, and taking his issue pistol.
(See separate story on injuries caused to one of the accused)