Inadmissible statement gets man acquitted of stealing cash from flatmate

A court has acquitted a man of stealing over €2,000 in cash from his ex-partner's friend, after noting that the only evidence against him was an inadmissible statement which he had released during his interrogation.

28-year-old Charlton Fenech from St Paul's Bay had been accused of stealing a number of objects, including cash, from Kinga Bachlaj in 2008. Fenech used to reside with his Bulgarian partner and her Polish friend, Bachlaj in an apartment in the seaside town. On 14 August 2008, the woman had notified the police that €2,050 in cash and her Sony laptop had gone missing and that the accused and her friend had also apparently cleared their personal effects from the flat.

Fenech was later arrested and questioned. He had released a statement during his interrogation, at which time he had not been assisted by a lawyer – an entirely legal practice at the time.

However in her judgment on the case, magistrate Marse-Anne Farrugia observed that after the decision by the European Court of Human Rights in Mario Borg vs Malta which found a violation of Article 6 § 3 in conjunction with Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial and right to legal assistance of one’s own choosing) of the European Convention on Human Rights, by the absence a provision in Maltese law allowing for legal assistance during interrogation, the statement which Fenech had released was now inadmissible as evidence.

The court also noted that Baclaj had never testified after filing the police report. In fact, prosecuting police inspector Jesmond Micallef had informed the court that she had changed her address, phone number and might also be using a different name in Malta due to pending criminal proceedings against her.

Noting that therefore the only evidence brought against the accused was the inadmissible statement, the court cleared Fenech due to lack of evidence.

Lawyer Mark Busuttil was defence counsel.