Angry defendant curses court after being denied bail on burglary charge

A man has accused the police of starving him to death, in a deranged courtroom outburst after being denied bail for allegedly burglarising his next-door neighbour.

Prosecutors Nathaniel Falzon and Giuliana Magro Conti, assisting police inspector Elisia Scicluna, charged former deliveryman Allister Camilleri, 43, from Marsa with burglary, accompanied by criminal damage, and theft.

Camilleri was arraigned before magistrate Joseph Gatt on Friday, accused of stealing perfume from a shop in Sliema on September 20 and subsequently stealing tools from a residence in Marsa which was broken into during the night between October 2 and 3.

He was also charged with breaching bail conditions previously imposed on him during his arraignment for using a knife and a fake bomb to rob a number of shops and hotels in 2020, as well as with recidivism.

Inspector Scicluna told the court that on October 3, the police had received a report from a Marsa resident who had noted some belongings missing from his home, damage to his house’s back door and a front window left open. 

The police had gathered CCTV from the area which showed a man jumping through the front window on the night of the burglary and subsequently carrying items from the targeted residence into the property next door.

Investigations revealed that the property was occupied by Camilleri and his elderly father. 

An arrest warrant was issued, Inspector Scicluna said, explaining that in the process of issuing it, officers noticed that Camilleri was already on the wanted list, in relation to a previous theft from a perfumery in Sliema. He was interrogated and subsequently released on police bail, before being rearrested yesterday.

His legal aid lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on Camilleri’s behalf and requested bail.

Bail was objected to by the prosecution, who argued that he was already being charged with breaching bail conditions and that his next-door neighbour was yet to testify and his criminal record.

The court, having heard the submissions on bail, rejected the request, saying it did not assess the defendant as being capable of obeying bail conditions, together with the fact that civilian witnesses were yet to testify, and also in view of his criminal record.

The prosecution also requested a protection order in favour of the neighbour, should Camilleri be granted bail at a later stage in the proceedings. The defence objected, saying that if anything, it should be issued at that later stage.

The defendant, who had maintained his composure during most of the sitting, suddenly became agitated when it was explained to him that he would not be allowed to approach the neighbour, telling the court that his father lived next door. “I didn’t do anything to him!” he erupted, before turning to the prosecution, roaring “you’re starving me to death! You’ve turned me into a beggar!”

Having seen his unhinged courtroom behaviour, the court upheld the prosecution’s request and issued the protection order, warning him not to speak or approach the victim on pain of a €7,000 fine. As police officers led him out of the courtroom Camilleri stopped at the doorway, turned around and fired his parting shot: “may God curse you all!”