Criminal court confirms bail for man accused of assaulting police inspector

Court has turned down an application filed by the Attorney General, in which court was asked to revoke bail granted to a driver who was charged with assaulting three police officers near Mdina on Saturday.

The man, whose name cannot be published by court order, had been arraigned in court on Monday and charged with assaulting the police inspector, who had stopped the man's car and asked him to show his documents.

It had initially been reported that the man had been seen beating his wife in the car in the moments before he was pulled over, but this was neither confirmed by the police media relations unit when contacted, nor was it mentioned in court. The accused was not charged with assaulting his wife.

The official statement issued by the police said that the man's BMW had been stopped in a roadside check the Ta’ Srina roundabout near Mdina on Saturday at around 11.30am.

Magistrate Clare Stafrace Zammit had released the Maltese man on bail last Monday, but the Attorney General filed an appeal against this decree, arguing that the court of Magistrates should have remanded the man in custody.

Madame Justice Edwina Grima, presiding the Criminal Court, disagreed. In a decree dismissing the AG's application, she said the court did not see any justification for it to depart from the Court of Magistrates' reasoning.

The bail conditions imposed by the court of first instance offered sufficient guarantees, noted the judge, who observed that the fact that the accused was under the supervision of a psychiatrist offered the court added reassurance.

To date, said the court, the accused had observed the conditions laid down in his bail decree and there was no reason to believe that he would do otherwise.