Bail confirmed for boxer Scott Dixon after AG loses appeal

The Court of Appeal has denied a request by the Attorney General to revoke bail granted to boxer Scott Dixon over his case related to the trafficking of almost 500 kilogrammes of cannabis, on a technicality. 

Dixon had been arraigned, together with five others in 2009, after a smuggling operation of staggering scale was uncovered by the police.

He is pleading not guilty to conspiring to traffic in half a ton of cannabis and being in possession of the drug between June and September 2009. It had an estimated street value of €1.5 million.

A magistrate had previously found Dixon guilty of breaching his bail conditions but was only reprimanded by the court – a ruling which was appealed by the Attorney General.

In his decision, Judge David Scicluna, presiding over the Court of Appeal, however held that the AG could not appeal as Dixon had not been charged under the provision of the criminal code which dealt with breaching bail conditions.

Dixon had appeared before a magistrate on 4 February after the Police Commissioner had filed an application to revoke his bail due to the fact that he had been caught breaking his curfew. The magistrate issued a “very strict and severe warning” to the accused.

In his appeal, the Attorney General said that the court was obliged to revoke bail and order the rearrest of the accused, however Dixon’s defence lawyers, Michael and Lucio Sciriha, argued that the decision was not subject to an appeal.

The judge cited  the fact that Dixon had not been charged under a specific legal provision upon which the AG could appeal.