A man charged with breaching three bail decrees walked out of court freely on Saturday after a magistrate declared his arrest illegal because the police failed to observe the letter of the law.
Magistrate Nadine Lia upheld arguments by the defence that the police failed to follow the law when they arrested the man following a traffic accident.
Ransdon Debono, 20, from Qormi, was arrested at the police station when he showed up to sign one of his bail books. He was arrested over his alleged involvement in a traffic accident on March 6.
However, the court found that the police failed to trigger a technical detail in the law, which necessitates the immediate notification of the arrest to the duty magistrate when a suspect is arrested at a police station.
The court heard how the police were investigating a traffic accident that took place at Blue Grotto Avenue in Żurrieq.
Debono’s father claimed to have been driving but when the police analysed CCTV footage, they realised that a person with a similar stature to his son, the defendant, was driving the car at the time of the crash.
When Debono reported to the police station to sign his bail book, he was arrested and a subsequent search at his residence yielded clothes similar to the ones worn by the driver of the Mazda Demio involved in the accident.
He was arraigned under arrest on Saturday but when questioned by defence lawyers Franco Debono and Adriana Zammit, it emerged the police had not immediately informed the magistrate of the arrest as the law required.
Article 355 of the criminal code provides that where an inspector has reasonable suspicion that the person who attended voluntarily at the police station may have committed an offence subject to imprisonment, he may arrest him without a warrant and inform him of his arrest accordingly.
The law also states that the time of the arrest shall be immediately recorded and the magistrate should be immediately informed.
It emerged that none of this was done which meant Magistrate Lia declared the arrest illegal and ordered his immediate release.
Debono pleaded not guilty to driving without a valid driving licence or insurance cover, relapsing and breaching the conditions of three bail decrees issued in March and September 2022.
Police inspector Francesca Calleja prosecuted.