Mqabba shooting: Criminal court reduces bail deposit for one accused

Owen Schembri, one of two men accused of carrying out a fatal shooting at Mqabba last July, has posted bail after the Criminal Court reduced his bail deposit.

18-year-old Schembri and his friend Leon Debono, 19, are accused of murdering Saviour Gaffarena and grievously injuring his cousin Vince Gaffarena. 

Saviour Gaffarena, aged 27, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head in triq il-Konvoj ta’ Santa Marija, Mqabba. 17-year-old Vince Gaffarena was shot in the chest and the face but survived. 

Schembri had been granted bail last December against a €15,000 bail deposit and a €35,000 personal guarantee, but was unable to afford the deposit. In a decree handed down this morning by madame justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, the man’s bail deposit was reduced to €3,000 from €15,000.

Schembri’s lawyer, Arthur Azzopardi, had argued that the original bail deposit was impossible for the accused to afford. Schembri had told the court that he was unemployed and lived with his grandmother, who would give him €50 a week as pocket money. He had no bank deposits or property. The €15,000 sum was “too severe and did not reflect the reality of the circumstances,” said the court.

Giving many examples from case law, the judge ruled that when fixing bail amounts, the courts had to bear in mind the financial position of the accused and his guarantors. She noted that the courts had already decided that the man was suitable for release and would not be a danger to society.

The failure to grant bail had to be the exception and not the rule, said the court, and it was up to the prosecution to convince the court that the accused was not a suitable candidate.