Police stop car driven by unlicensed, uninsured woman on bail for armed robbery

A court has remanded a woman in custody after hearing how she was stopped while driving without a licence or insurance, in breach of a court-imposed curfew, whilst on bail for charges of armed robbery.

Inspector Gabriel Kitcher charged 21-year-old Miyem Milal Ali from Zabbar with committing an intentional breach of bail conditions imposed last July when she was released from arrest. She was also charged with driving a car without a driving licence or insurance cover.

The woman was also charged with driving a car without the permission of its owner and providing false particulars to the police.

He explained that the woman was a defendant in another case and had been granted bail on several conditions, amongst them that she observe a curfew. Ali had last been arraigned in February 2023, together with others, in connection with a string of muggings.

Inspector Kitcher explained that a traffic police road checkpoint in Zabbar had signalled to the car Ali was driving, to pull over.  At first the car didn’t stop, he said, but then screeched to a halt, in what he described as a “handbrake stop.” 

The officers recognised the driver to be the defendant, who would regularly sign a bail book at the Zabbar police station. The time was noted to be 10:30pm, half an hour past a curfew stipulated by the court as part of her bail conditions.

When the police officers had asked her to state her ID card number, the woman had provided a number that pertained to her passenger and not her. It was noted that she did not have a driving licence and so Ali was taken into custody.

Ali, who told the court she worked as a manager, pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.

Defence lawyer Brandon Kirk Muscat asked the court to release his client on bail. 

Inspector Kitcher objected, arguing that being found outside in breach of court-imposed bail conditions was sufficient to arrest a person, “much more so when you are not licensed or insured to drive and are transporting a passenger, and then giving false details to the police.” This, the inspector said, showed that the defendant was not interested in changing her ways and was untrustworthy.

Muscat argued that there had not been any attempt to tamper with evidence on the part of the defendant, who also had a four-year-old child who depended on her. 

The court denied bail, ruling that the woman could not provide sufficient guarantees to the court, which was unconvinced that she would abide by any bail conditions it might impose.