Man in the dock after Sunday 2am 'bread run'

A man who claimed to be buying bread when he was arrested in Qawra at 2:15 am on Sunday morning, in breach of a previous set of bail conditions, has been remanded in custody.

38 year-old St. Paul’s Bay resident Awal Mohammed from Sierra Leone, was arrested after a police patrol noticed him outdoors at 2:15am yesterday, despite his being under a court-imposed curfew- part of his bail conditions on drug trafficking charges.

The man had originally been charged with drug trafficking in May last year, having been arrested after police were tipped off that someone was selling drugs in a bar in Triq il-Hgejjeg, St Paul’s Bay. Awal Mohammed was arrested after he was spotted throwing a cigarette packet on to the billiards table when the police entered the bar. That packet was found to contain 17 individually wrapped sticks of cannabis resin, weighing approximately a gram each.

This morning, Inspector Maurice Curmi explained to Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech that the man had also changed his address without informing the police and had failed to sign his bail book for the past two months.

The court was critical of police inaction, pointing out that persons who do not sign their bail book should be re-arrested immediately.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges. Legal aid defence counsel lawyer Francine Abela, suggested that the accused had been buying buy some bread at the time of his arrest.

The court was unconvinced by the explanation, however, and denied Mohammed bail, saying the man had already proved himself untrustworthy.