Jury starts for Bormla man accused of hold-up

The first day of the trial by jury of a 29-year-old man from Cospicua, accused of complicity in the armed robbery of a mobile phone shop, in which a shopkeeper was shot in the arm and chest, ended with the court warning the defence that it was “already stretching the elastic to the maximum” after it strongly objected to the prosecution making reference to the accused’s previous convictions.

The accused, Matthew Mizzi, is indicted on four charges relating to the hold-up, which took place at Seven Mobile in Psaila Street, Birkirkara on 13 April, 2009.

The actual robber, Jonathan Coleiro, now 32, had previously been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for his part in the hold-up, after pleading guilty at a late stage in compilation proceedings in order to avoid a trial by jury.

In 2009, Coleiro, face obscured with a hood and armed with a revolver, had held up shop-owner Charles Zammit, firing shots to intimidate him. Zammit was hit in the left arm whilst giving chase to the fleeing robber, who fired five shots in his direction. Zammit received treatment and has since recovered from his wounds.

The first and most serious of the accusations faced by Mizzi is complicity in theft aggravated by violence, attempted murder and the illegal arrest of a person. The other charges Mizzi faces are of being in possession of a firearm without the necessary licence, driving a vehicle without a licence and making a false report to police.

The police’s investigations led them to trace the getaway car, which was owned by a certain Conrad Mizzi from Cospicua – Matthew Mizzi’s brother. Both Matthew Mizzi and Jonathan Coleiro were then arrested.

Today, Judge Antonio Mizzi heard lawyer Elaine Mercieca from the office of the Attorney General tell the jury that the victim still carries the bullet which struck him, as it is embedded close to a vital organ.

Mercieca insisted that Conrad Mizzi was an accomplice as, not only had he provided the handgun and ammunition, but had also been driving the getaway car for his brother, who was unwell at the time.

Mizzi had gone to great lengths to cover his tracks, the lawyer said, explaining to the jury that the accused had allegedly concocted a story about his car being stolen by the robbers, whilst he had been waiting for his girlfriend outside the shop. He then told this story to police whilst making a false report at the Msida police station.

However, defence lawyer Michael Sciriha was forced to object when the prosecutor made a reference to Coleiro’s sentence, saying it was irrelevant to the case at hand. Mercieca, however, argued that it was relevant because it was a fact and “the jury is the judge of the facts.”

Judge Mizzi was prompted to intervene when Sciriha appeared to imply that this could lead the accused to suffer a “mistrial”, with the judge pointing out that this fact would have emerged at some point in the trial and that “fortunately, these people [the jury] are not gullible.”

Lawyers Elaine Mercieca and Ann Marie Cutajar from the office of the Attorney General are prosecuting, whilst lawyers Michael Sciriha, Lucio Sciriha and Christopher Chircop are defence counsel.