Updated 1.45pm
A teen bomber arrested in May after allegedly placing an explosive outside the Labour Party headquarters was pronounced insane at the time of the crime.
David Brincat was arrested in May after an explosive device was detonated inside a garbage bin outside Labour headwuarters.
The device exploded at around 2am and nobody was injured, but the incident triggered a police investigation that led them to a garage where Brincat was living.
Inside, they found significant amounts of chemicals and materials used to make explosives.
Further investigation led police to believe Brincat had also placed explosives outside two pharmacies in Santa Venera and Birkirkara and had plans to target other sites, including parliament.
When Brincat, 18, was escorted back to court on Monday, three psychiatrists appointed by the court to examine his mental state confirmed he was in a state of insanity at the time of the crime.
The experts had already testified in September that the teenager was suffering from substance-induced psychosis.
On Monday the psychiatrists shed further light on Brincat’s mental condition when facing questions by the prosecution who called for clarification.
“So he didn’t have the ability to understand and to will (capacita’ d’intendere e di volere)," asked the AG lawyer.
The defendant was in a psychotic state and was thus in a state of insanity, said the psychiatrists.
Following that testimony, the court, presided over by magistrate Kevan Azzopardi, ordered the defendant to be transferred to Mount Carmel Hospital where he is to be detained in terms of the Mental Health Act and any other relative legal provisions.
The court ordered a scanned copy of the records of the compilation to be made accessible to the AG within three working days.
Positive for mephedrone upon arrest
Taking May 31 as “point zero”, the psychiatrists examined Brincat after his arrest and also took note of his developmental history since birth.
They examined him at Mount Carmel Hospital in the presence of his parents and also consulted his medical records.
His schizoid personality could be genetic and surfaced later in life. His psychotic state was possibly drug induced although the teen was still being treated for that condition.
When he spoke to the doctors, Brincat gave a “very clear” picture of what happened.
He said that for a year or so he had been trying to make drugs in his garage.
He gave “concrete” details, one psychiatrist explained.
The drugs precipitated the psychosis or made it worse: “The drugs could be a red herring or a compounding factor,” the experts testified.
When arrested, Brincat tested positive for mephedrone.
The effects of that drug could last for hours or days, causing confusion and intoxication. It could also trigger psychotic episodes, court was told.
Brincat was dependent on that substance which he used regularly together with alcohol and other substances. However, even when he was put off the drug, he still needed care at the forensic unit because of paranoid thoughts.
When all was considered, the psychiatrists agreed that the defendant was in a state of insanity at the time of the crime.
AG lawyers Kaylie Bonett and Joseph Camilleri Azarov prosecuted together with Inspectors Lydon Zammit, Wayne Camilleri and Elisia Scicluna.
Lawyers Nicholas Mifsud and Lara Attard were defence counsel.