Topo refusal to name accomplices in HSBC heist, a result of State's inaction on witness protection, lawyer claims

Self-confessed bank robber Daren Debono had shown willingness to uphold his part of his plea deal, but had been let down by the State’s failure to place his family in witness protection, his lawyer has told a judge this morning.

Mr. Justice Aaron Bugeja heard submissions by the prosecution and defence on Tuesday morning, as Debono’s appeal against a prison sentence which he was handed for breaching a plea-bargaining agreement with the Attorney General, continued.

Debono’s lawyers had filed the appeal in February this year, after the bank robber was jailed for six months and fined €4,600 for refusing to honour the conditions of a plea deal he had reached with the Attorney General, relating to his involvement in the infamous failed armed robbery of the HSBC headquarters in 2010.

In January 2022, Vince Muscat had been due to be tried by a jury over the 2010 unsuccessful attempt to hold up the HSBC headquarters, along with Debono, but on the eve of the trial, the news broke that a plea bargain had been reached between the Attorney General and one of the accused men.

Under the terms of the last-minute plea deal, Debono received a 10 and a half year sentence, together with an €18,000 fine and was ordered to pay half of the costs of the case, which amounted to over €11,000, in return for his testimony against his accomplices.

But when, after receiving the agreed sentence, Debono was required to testify against Vince Muscat in the latter’s trial, he would only confirm Muscat’s involvement and was steadfast in his refusal to name his other two accomplices from the witness stand.

The dismal result of that plea deal led to calls for the sacking of Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg by NGO Repubblika, which accused her of betraying her office by letting a criminal who had tried to kill two police officers off the hook. The organisation alleged that the episode was an attempt to cover-up the involvement of Carmelo Abela and Chris Cardona, both former government ministers, in the crime.

Buttigieg remains in the role.

'Is there any doubt he is at high risk?'

In his submissions on Tuesday, defence lawyer Edward Gatt asked the judge to “detach himself from the nefarious voices outside the court.” The heat accompanying this case might have been too much for the court which sentenced his client, he suggested, before giving an overview of how the case had ended up before Mr. Justice Bugeja.

“Daren Debono had started to testify against Vincent Muscat. Divulging things from first hand experience that nobody had ever heard. He testified that Muscat had entered the bank. He said he put on a wig…” There had never been any direct evidence of any of this before, the lawyer said.

“No court had ever heard this evidence under oath before. Then, under immense pressure from the defence and whose lawyers were shouting…the prosecutor asked Muscat who had entered the bank, and who he was with. He said he could not put his family’s safety at risk.”

Gatt contested the assertion, made by prosecuting lawyer Etienne Savona from the Office of the Attorney General, that his client had not been prepared to tell the whole truth. “This is not true…here you do not have a witness who doesn’t want to testify,” he said, pointing to other cases where this had happened. 

Gatt also told the court that he was “hurt” by Magistrate Axiaq’s decision to impose the maximum punishment on Debono. He pointed to the heightened security arrangements required whenever Vince Muscat attends court, with armed officers even standing inside the courtroom. This was a necessity, he said, contrasting it to the absence of any such security arrangements for his client.

Debono was in the relative safety of prison, said the lawyer, but he feared for his family’s safety. “The magistrate had ordered everyone out of the hall, and asked the inspector whether any witness protection had been offered to Debono’s relatives outside prison. He said no.”

“Is there anyone who doubts that he is at high risk? Just because of newspaper articles attributing nefarious crimes to him?” Gatt said. 

The lawyer emphatically argued that this was not a case where the maximum punishment was due.

Mr. Justice Bugeja adjourned the case to October for judgement.

Lawyers Edward Gatt and Ishmael Psaila are representing Debono.

Lawyer Etienne Savona appeared on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General.