10 years ago - The Times
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Police treat hit-and-run Gozo death as murder
The unsolved hit-and-run incident in which a 42-year-old man died in Gozo last November is being treated as a murder, Police Commissioner John Rizzo said. “This case is being considered as a homicide by police. We can confirm that whoever committed this crime did so in a premeditated way. This was no accident,” he said when contacted.
This news emerged as Mr Rizzo pointed out during the TVM programme Dissett on Tuesday that 2008 ended with six unsolved murders, and not five as originally believed, revealing that Joe Grima from Xewkija was murdered rather than having been the victim of a hit-and-run accident, as was originally thought.
25 years jail in drugs trial
Englishman Steve Marsden was yesterday jailed for 25 years and fined €60,000 after jurors found him guilty by eight votes to one of conspiring to import 50,000 ecstasy pills.
Mr Marsden, 48, had been found in possession of the pills which were hidden in the panels of his jeep when he arrived from Sicily on July 9, 2006, the night of the World Cup final.
25 years ago - The Times
Saturday, January 8, 1994
Murder trial starts on Monday
A murder defendant will stand trial on Monday despite “any attempt to stall legal proceedings against him”, the Civil Court said yesterday.
The court decided against a constitutional application for the postponement of the trial by jury because of a human rights violation claim.
Mr Justice Anton Depasquale said Gaetano Scerri, 25, in asking for the postponement of the trial, was just playing for time and his application was “frivolous and vexatious”.
On October 25, last year, Scerri applied to the Criminal Court asking to be allowed to call a number of witnesses.
Three days later, the Criminal Court decided against the application, saying it could not give him special permission. Scerri then went before the Court of Appeal which ruled the decision could not be appealed.
However, the Civil Court said on December 17, the defendant had been notified of the January 10 date for the trial by jury but the lawyer had waited until January 4 to file his constitutional application.
The court said Scerri’s claim was unfounded since he had been given the same time as the prosecution to present witnesses.
Half a century ago - Times of Malta
Wednesday, January 8, 1969
‘Canberra’ jet crashes near Addolorata
The pilot of a Royal Air Force ‘Canberra’ jet aircraft may have made a last-minute effort to avoid crashing into factories at the Marsa Industrial Estate yesterday morning seconds before he and his companion, the navigator, were killed. Their aircraft nose-dived into a piece of wasteland a few yards from the boundary wall of the Addolorata Cemetery.
The pilot’s apparent effort is borne by reports of several eyewitnesses who followed the progress of what appeared to be an aircraft making an unusually low approach to the Luqa Airport runway – less than a minute’s flying distance away.
They agreed that the Canberra was flying low over the factories when it veered to the left and flew on for a split second. Some eyewitnesses saw smoke trails. Then it nose-dived into the wasteland, exploding on impact into a sheet of flame and thick smoke.
The two RAF officers killed were Fl. Lt. P. J. Greenaway and Fl. Lt. A. J. Prouse. Both were married, living at the RAF Married Quarters, Luqa, and were due to leave the island within the next six months. They were very popular members of the RAF Luqa mess.