Truck driver's sister tells court he had attacked a motorist five years ago

A truck driver facing 11 charges relating to misconduct on the roads has again been refused bail after magistrate heard the accused’s sister explain how he had physically attacked a motorist five years ago.

Marius Camilleri has been in police custody since last December, when Police Inspector Sergio Pisani charged him with a number of offences, ranging from having a road licence issued to a 125cc motorcycle displayed on his 35 tonne truck, to dangerous driving, driving without a licence or insurance, to speeding. It was simply a matter of time before the man's driving would cause someone's death the inspector had said during Camilleri's arraignment.

Camilleri appeared distinctly unhappy this afternoon as his sister took the witness stand to testify against him as a character witness. Magistrate Grazio Mercieca heard Simone Camilleri as she testified for the prosecution.

“Around 5 years ago I was driving on the Telgha t’Alla w Ommu... From across the road I saw Marius’ truck and saw him shaking a man, shouting and swearing at him.”

The court was told that the accused is embroiled in litigation against his sister. Asked by the court whether she had any pending issues with her brother. She said she had but they didn’t matter, “because what I saw is true.”                   

Prosecuting police Inspector Sergio Pisani declared he had no further evidence, bar a number of sentences against the accused, to exhibit.
The defence requested bail, as all witnesses had now been heard, but the magistrate dismissed the request out of hand. “I am considering him as a dangerous person who doesn’t care about other people,” said magistrate Mercieca.

“In 34 years I never…” began the accused before being shut down and ordered to keep quiet by the magistrate.

“If I give him bail I am very concerned that he would get into a car, I’m sure he would...and kill someone and I will be responsible,” said the magistrate.

“He is a dangerous person and clearly has no respect for anyone.”

This was one of the rare occasions that Magistrate Mercieca has ordered a person accused before him to be remanded in custody.

Camilleri’s defence counsel, lawyer Leslie Cuschieri, said his clients continued detention would make his defence harder to formulate.

But the magistrate pointed to the accused’s courtroom behaviour in previous sittings, saying it did not help his case. “Whoever slams the door as he leaves the courtroom, that shows a lack of respect...who knows what he does on the road.”

“What crime does this constitute?” said the accused, piping up for the third time, before once again being ordered to keep quiet.

As Camilleri sat, seething in the dock, muttering darkly, the magistrate observed that letting people who show contempt of court get away with it Scot free would give a wrong message to the public.

“The public has become so tolerant of everything that nothing is bad, everything goes... I am not going to give bail. I am not going to take responsibility for him...if he kills someone, tell me who is going to be responsible?”

The case continues next week.