Man risks €15,000 to wash car outside curfew hours

The act of washing a car could end up costing one Valletta man nearly €15,000, after he was caught doing so when he was supposed to be observing a court-imposed curfew.

Janis Caruana, 30, appeared in court before magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona this morning charged with breaching two sets of bail conditions after he was arrested in a Valletta garage, ostensibly washing his father's car.

If found guilty, Caruana stands to lose his €14,750 deposit and personal guarantee associated with those previous bail conditions.

This was Caruana's third arraignment since April last year, having originally faced drug charges and, after that, a separate set of charges for breaching his bail conditions last week. The accused, who appears to have a colourful criminal record, chewed gum and stared fixedly at the magistrate during this morning's sitting.

Lawyer Veronique Dalli, appearing for the accused, entered a plea of not guilty. Her request for bail was denied without a moment's hesitation.

Dalli attempted to argue that the alleged incident was hardly the most serious or flagrant of breaches and asked that witnesses be heard for the purposes of deciding on bail, but was cut off.

“I am not going to listen to evidence,” the magistrate replied. “It is difficult, in the circumstances. I read his statement, which confirms what you said, but for his negligence he must pay. This is not the first time that he has done this.”

“Any further discussions would be on the merits and I am not here to decide on the merits of the case,” the magistrate later added.

Inspectors Jeffrey Scicluna and Daryl Borg prosecuted.

Lawyers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili were defence counsel.