Man jailed for staging his own kidnap after surprise courtroom admission

A man has been jailed for extorting his mother and CCF’s spiritual director by staging his own kidnap, just four days after finishing a three-year prison sentence.

26 year-old Iranian national Mohammad Tahmasebi Ghareb Shiran had called the CCF spiritual director, Fr Hayden Williams, who had helped him find a place to stay after his release from jail last week, claiming that he had been kidnapped.

Shiran told the priest that he had been in the street when assailants had forced him into a vehicle, driving him to an unknown location where he was tied to a chair. The man also made a similar phonecall to his mother in Iran, telling her that his kidnappers were demanding €2,500 for his release.

During Shiran’s arraignment on Wednesday, Magistrate Leonard Caruana heard police inspector Lydon Zammit explain how Shiran and two Maltese nationals, Sarah Zammit, 30, and Jonathan Abela, 39, had been involved in his fake abduction. The accused trio pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.

Zammit told the court how the priest, thinking the man’s life was in danger, had contacted the police on Sunday to say that he had received a call from the former prisoner. The police launched a nationwide search, also requesting localisation data from mobile phone service providers. The inspector said around 50 police officers were involved in the operation that lasted 24 hours.

At one point, the priest had received another phone call claiming that the kidnappers had injected Shiran with drugs and that he had lost consciousness.

Shiran’s mother told the police that she had received a ransom request, telling her to wire the money to Sarah Zammit. Now armed with a name, the police tracked her down, together with Abela and found that there had been no kidnap.

Zammit said the localisation data put Shiran at Abela’s Gzira apartment when the calls were made. The police discovered that they had been using drugs together at the flat when they got the idea to stage a kidnap. The inspector added that a fourth person who was also with them at the time is to be charged in the coming days after he is released from hospital, where he was taken for treatment.

The prosecution told the court that the accused had serious drug problems and that drug addicts would gather at Abela’s Gzira flat to take drugs. He added that Sarah Zammit was recently jailed after her suspended sentence was converted into an effective jail term.

A request for bail was rejected by the Magistrate Caruana, who ordered the accused be remanded in custody. 

But as they were being led out of the courtroom, Shiran had a surprise change of heart, asking to address the court as he wished to plead guilty.

“I want to plead guilty. I want to change my life. I put these people in this situation,” he said, referring to his co-accused. “I lied to my mum who is an elderly lady and also Fr Hayden who helped me a lot. I betrayed their trust and it is time for me to receive my punishment. I need to shoulder my responsibilities,” he said.

Magistrate Caruana gave the man time to reconsider his guilty plea, which he then confirmed. Shiran was sentenced to imprisonment for nine months and ordered to undergo treatment for drug addiction.  

Lawyer Leontine Calleja was defence counsel.

Police inspectors Stephen Gulia and Doriette Cuschieri also prosecuted.