A policeman on long sick leave has been working as a lawyer while waiting for his boarding out application to be processed, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.

Alfred Abela was promoted to sergeant major last December on the recommendation of former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit – just a month after he had graduated as a lawyer from the University of Malta.

Last February, only a few months after his graduation and promotion, Mr Abela went out on sick leave and applied to be boarded out for medical reasons.

However, although the sergeant major has not returned to work since March and is officially still on sick leave, he has been regularly representing clients in court. Only last August, the Times of Malta reported that Dr Abela was appearing in a case defending a 34-year old man from Luqa accused of assaulting two of his fellow colleagues.

Sergeant major Abela is still considered to be a serving officer. He is on long sick leave

Dr Abela’s client was granted bail after facing charges of attacking two police officers who turned up at his home to investigate a reported case of domestic violence.

A police spokesman confirmed that sergeant major Abela is still considered to be a serving officer, adding that “the officer in question is on long sick leave”.

As to his application to be boarded out, the spokesman said that “in view that medical issues are considered as sensitive data, no other details could be divulged.”

When contacted Mr Abela confirmed that he has not gone to work at the police force since February but did not want to say whether he is on sick leave and working privately as a lawyer, He insisted that he had not yet resigned from the police force.

A senior police officer told this newspaper that “while the said police officer is too sick to return to work, he seems to be very fit to work as a lawyer with his new private practice he just set up in Mosta.”

Sergeant major Abela is the son of former assistant commissioner Alfred Abela who until a few weeks ago was the head of security at the Labour Party headquarters in Hamrun.

Following Labour’s return to power, Mr Abela senior was also appointed chairman of the Board of the Police Academy.