Hours after her inaugural sitting, Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera delivered a detailed decree confirming bail in favour of a man who had allegedly threatened his partner before attempting to escape from police custody.

Charles Buhagiar, a 37-year old Xgħajra resident, had been granted bail after he was hauled to court last week.

Mr Buhagiar had allegedly kicked up a racket at the house of a woman he was in an on-off relationship. He was taken to Cospicua police station but allegedly tried to run away and threatened a police officer. 

His lawyer's request for bail had been upheld against a deposit of €1,000, a personal guarantee of €5,000 and a protection order barring the man from approaching his partner or her relatives.

That decision prompted an appeal by the Attorney General who asked for bail to be revoked since the victim and a number of police officers had yet to testify, the man had faced similar charges in the past and had an unruly nature.

Quoting detailed reference to local and European case law, Madam Justice Scerri Herrera described the granting or refusal of bail as “a very important and delicate matter” which was never to be decided upon in a “cavalier manner.”

When assessing whether the magistrates’ court had exercised its discretion in “an evidently mistaken” manner, the court concluded that this had certainly not been the case. In spite of being fully aware that the alleged victim and a number of officers were still to testify, the first court had chosen to grant the man bail.

The first court had also been well aware of the man’s criminal record and of his unruly character, the judge observed, but had chosen to grant him bail and had even gone a step further, issuing a protection order for the length of the proceedings.

The circumstances remained unchanged, Madam Justice Scerri Herrera concluded, declaring that consequently “at this stage there appeared to be no imminent danger of tampering with evidence,” which meant that the granting of bail was to be confirmed.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence counsel.