Cleared of breaching bail conditions

A man was cleared of breaching his bail conditions after a magistrate ruled he had never been granted bail to start with.

Paul Camilleri, 48, of Rabat was yesterday arraigned under a recently introduced amendment to the law and charged with breaching conditions imposed by Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani in a decree granting him bail on November 27, 2006.

Police Inspector Raymond Aquilina told Magistrate Michael Mallia how, in a separate court case before Magistrate Padovani, Mr Camilleri had been ordered by the court not to approach the witnesses for the prosecution. However, the police learnt that he had moved in with a woman, who was also a witness.

Lawyer Roberto Montalto, for Mr Camilleri, noted that, in the case before Magistrate Padovani, his client had been charged under citation and not arraigned under arrest. This meant that, once he was never in a state of arrest, he could have never been granted bail which, by nature, means release from arrest.

Although Magistrate Padovani had imposed conditions on Mr Camilleri, such conditions were not part of a bail ruling, the lawyer added.

After examining the law, under which Mr Camilleri had been arraigned, the court cleared him of the charge.

However, the prosecution filed a written application before Magistrate Mallia, asking the court to proceed against Mr Camilleri for breaching the conditions imposed by Magistrate Padovani.

The application will be sent to Magistrate Padovani, who laid down the conditions and who is to decide on the application.