The police failed to realise that a man placed on the wanted list was actually serving time behind bars, and as a result, five of six criminal charges filed against him had meanwhile become time-barred.
Abubakar Ibrahim Jabril was involved in a violent scuffle with two police constables at the Tiger Bar in Marsa in April 2016. One of the officers was allegedly bitten during the incident.
After this violent episode, the police could not notify the man of the charges since he was nowhere to be found.
In the meantime, Mr Jabril was imprisoned for an earlier conviction.
When charges were ultimately pressed against him over the Tiger Bar incident, the two-year prescriptive period in respect of five out of the six charges had lapsed, prompting Magistrate Joseph Mifsud to lament the ‘serious’ communication hitch which had weakened the prosecution’s case.
Faced with such a situation, the only charge left to consider was that of having attacked or violently resisted the police officers.
Tthe court concluded that the three constituent elements of this offence, namely the attack or resistance, against a public officer, committed while the latter was executing an order, had been sufficiently proved.
Whilst once again observing that incidents against members of the police force appeared to be on the rise within society, Magistrate Mifsud stressed the importance of ensuring that police officers were protected in the exercise of their duties.
Although no one had a right to abuse of his power granted by way of his office, yet at the same time all policemen and their families had a right to safeguard their rights under the European Convention, just like other ordinary citizens,he declared.
Whilst acquitting the accused of the five time-barred charges, the court declared him guilty of the sixth charge condemning him to an effective jail term of one year and a fine of €4,000 payable within six months.
The court further urged the Immigration Authorities to repatriate the accused once the latter had served his time behind bars.