No bail for man arrested while throwing stones at PM's summer residence

Accused had escaped from custody after being arrested in Paceville late at night on 5 December and violently resisting police officers who had been taking him to hospital.

A homeless man who was arrested last night while throwing stones at the Prime Minister's official summer residence has been remanded in custody, after he denied assaulting police officers on three separate incidents occasions this month.

The man, 33 year old Mohamed Madi from Tripoli, is understood to have been arrested while throwing stones at Girgenti Palace after his knocks on the door were ignored.

A belligerent Mohamed Mahdi from Tripoli appeared before magistrate Monica Vella on Friday to answer a raft of charges; assaulting police, resisting arrest, obstructing police, slightly injuring a police officer, public drunkenness and possession of an unlicensed knife in unlawful circumstances, amongst them.

He had escaped from custody after being arrested in Paceville late at night on the 5 December and violently resisting police officers who had been taking him to hospital.

Mahdi appeared confused and agitated as he stood in the dock with a swollen eye, insisting that he had been beaten by the police.

“Why did the police break my nose and arm? The police took me away in a car last night to a dark place and threw me to the floor,” he shouted.

Prosecuting police inspectors Matthew Spagnol and Kylie Borg explained to the court that an X-ray showed that he had no fractures. The man had left hospital of his own accord, but not after a doctor reported the accused as being aggressive, inspector Borg said.

“I want the judge to hear me, the judge knows everything!” Mahdi shouted, when his lawyer asked him to stop disrupting the sitting with loud outbursts.

The accused said that he lived at a flat in Gzira, but the court was also told that he had admitted to police that he was living “in different places” and could not afford his rent. Mahdi himself confirmed this in court today. He had left the property after disagreeing with an owner-imposed curfew and a requirement that he clean the floor of the common area, he said.

Inspector Spagnol added that Mahdi had also been under investigation in connection with a shoplifting incident in November, for which he was now being charged.

Defence lawyer Leontine Calleja explained that the man had been on a drunken bender when he had gone to Girgenti. He is thought to have been involved in a fight with someone who later dumped him in the secluded area near Siggiewi. Mahdi had been taken into custody by police after soldiers working in the area had noticed the man was injured. He had panicked when he came-to in unfamiliar surroundings and attacked the officers, Calleja argued.

Inspector Borg pointed out that the man had several previous convictions for similar offences and had breached the conditions of a suspended sentence.

Mahdi pleaded not guilty to the charges and was remanded in custody.