Sicilians accused of Rabat hold-up, remanded in custody

Two men from Catania remanded in custody after being accused of carrying out hold-up in Rabat and injuring elderly shop owner

A Sicilian man who owns three shops in Malta and his alleged accomplice have been remanded in custody after being charged with stealing €2,000 in an armed robbery at a shoe shop in Rabat on Friday.

The accused, Domiano Torrisi, 37, and Alessandro Gandolfo, 35, both of Catania, were also accused of being in possession of a weapon without a licence and of seriously injuring the shop owner.

Torrisi owns three shops in Malta, while Gandolfo is unemployed.

The hold-up occurred on Friday at about 4pm at a shoe shop in College Street, Rabat. The shop owner, a 66-year-old man from Rabat, was hospitalised after being injured during the armed robbery.

The police had reported that two hooded men armed with a knife entered the shop and stole around €2,000.

In court, the men, who reside in St Paul’s Bay, pleaded not guilty to carrying out the armed robbery and also denied to have held the shop owner against will and to having injured him.

Duty Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera denied the accused’s request for bail, and remanded them in custody.