Court hears emergency call made during 'police beating'

A court has heard a recording of a 112 call made by the girlfriend of a man who is claiming to have been beaten by police officers arresting him on suspicion of driving drunk last May.

Jasione Vassallo described feeling powerless as she pleaded with the two officers to stop,during her tearful account of the incident. Vassallo testified this afternoon in the compilation of evidence against Rapid Intervention Unit (RIU) police officers Mark Tonna and David Camilleri, who are accused of using excessive force to subdue her boyfriend, Jean Paul Aquilina, during his arrest on at Mgarr on May 3rd.

Today's proceedings are an offshoot of the ongoing criminal proceedings which had begun with Aquilina’s arrest, where he is being charged with attacking the two RIU personnel.

Vassallo told magistrate Carol Peralta how, while driving home from a family barbecue at around 1 am on the 3rd of May, Aquilina had been pulled over by the officers and told that he was driving erratically, which Aquilina denied.

Vassallo had stood next to their car while Aquilina was talking to officer Tonna, she said, describing Camilleri as swaggering around the vehicle, “walking in a macho way,” while this was going on. Asked by the magistrate, she said she could not hear what was being said.

After Tonna had returned to the police car, she said, Camilleri approached the young man from behind and put him in a choke hold before throwing him to the ground and punching him in the eye.

She could not understand what had sparked the violent reaction. “Like you, I can’t understand what happened,” she told the magistrate before being overcome by emotion. Some moments later, having composed herself with the aid of a glass of water, which the court helpfully provided, she continued.

Throughout her testimony, she referred to the arresting officers by their first name. “Mark got out of the car and held Jean down so he could not defend himself while David punched and kicked him. She said she repeatedly pleaded with the officers to stop, saying they would kill her boyfriend.

This happened in the middle of the road, necessitating passing vehicles to cross to the other lane to avoid running him over.  She then called emergency number 112 but failed to get through to the police, so she called her father . “In the meantime he was still being beaten,” she said.

“At one point Jean was face down with his face against the tarmac with a shoe on his face. David's -shoe. David told him ‘you have to stay there’ and then pulled him up and pushed him against his car, breaking the mirror. Then he put him on the pavement again and carried on hitting him.”

The beating only stopped when another RIU car arrived, she said, one of the arriving officers handcuffing Aquilina.  Shortly afterwards, her parents and more police officers arrived.

Her father asked Aquilina who had beaten him, she said. David Camilleri stepped forward from the crowd and said: I did, I have nothing to hide.

Lawyer  Mario Demarco, appearing parte civile for Aquilina, played an 11-second audio recording of the 112 emergency phone call. Vassallo is heard panicking. It was hard to make out what was said after that, as the recording rapidly disintegrated into unintelligible shouting, punctuated by a woman screaming “why are you doing that, you’re going to kill him.” The call was not answered.

Inspector Ramon Mercieca explained to the court that the caller had assumed that her call was not getting through when she did not hear a voice reply, but 112 calls begin recording as soon as they are connected. 

She denied suggestions, made by Camilleri's lawyer, Tonio Azzopardi, that it had been Aquilina who had grabbed Camilleri by the neck.

“If you want to call me a liar, you can say what you want. I know the truth and we will all soon know the truth.

They were not trying to handcuff him, they were trying to beat him.”

Police Inspector Ramon Mercieca is prosecuting. Lawyers Tonio Azzopardi and Arthur Azzopardi appeared for Camilleri and Tonna, respectively.