Malian’s second attempt to flee Malta thwarted, jailed for 35 months

A Malian man was this afternoon jailed for a total of two years and seven months after he was found guilty – for the second time- of using falsified documents in an attempt to leave to Italy.

Yacouba Doumbia, 31, of Marsa, pleaded guilty to falsifying and using false documents in an attempt to leave Malta, and of committing the crime during the operative period of a suspended sentence.

The court heard that in November 2012, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli handed Doumbia a two-year jail term suspended for four years after he was caught using documents to try and leave Italy. However, undeterred by the prospect of going to jail, the Malian tried again, this time forking out at least €2,000 in exchange for a fake Italian residency permit and passport.

However, Doumbia’s attempt to flee Malta illegally was thwarted by police officers after he was caught while trying to board an airplane to Italy. He was arrested and arraigned this morning – once again before Magistrate Audrey Demicoli.

In her judgement, the magistrate handed Doumbia no reprieve in so far as he had committed the exact same crime. Taking the accused’s guilty plea into account, the magistrate jailed him for seven months and brought into force his previous suspended sentence.

As a result, Doumbia was jailed for a total of two years and seven months.

Police Inspector Victor Aquilina prosecuted, while Lawyer Anthony Cutajar was legal aid.