Man charged with making bomb threat to avoid court sitting

A man was today arraigned under arrest after being charged with calling in a hoax bomb threat to the courts to avoid a sitting.

Standing before Duty Magistrate Neville Camilleri, Ahmad Yassine, 36, of Libya, was charged with making the threat on 16 November at around 10am. The accused, who has been living in Malta since the age of four, is currently undergoing separation proceedings and had a court sitting before the Family Court on the day of the alleged offence, the court was told.

Prosecuting inspector Priscilla Caruana said police investigations into communication networks had discovered that the phone call through which the hoax bomb threat was made came from the accused’s phone number.

The accused was then interrogated and arraigned under arrest. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Court granted the accused bail against a deposit of €1,000 and a personal guarantee of €5,000.

Lawyers Keith Borg and Carlos Bugeja appeared for the accused, while Inspector Priscilla Caruana prosecuted.