DNA analysis on a hat left on the scene of a botched hold-up in April 2015 in Graham Street, Sliema, led the police to Miriam Elabed who on Wednesday denied her involvement in the crime.

The 27-year-old from Gżira was arrested after the police identified her as the suspect and subsequently matched her with the DNA analysis, police inspector Saviour Baldacchino told Magistrate Victor Axiaq. 

Elabed pleaded not guilty to her involvement in the attempted armed robbery on a Serbian couple and another armed robbery on an elderly woman some time later, holding the alleged victims against their will and being in possession of a sharp and pointed instrument at the time of the commission of a crime. 

The court heard the couple were entering their Sliema home when they were approached by a person wearing a mask and brandishing a knife. A struggle ensued after the Serbian man, 50, suffered two knife wounds in the struggle with the assailant, who fled empty-handed. 

Shortly after, somebody who fit the description of the assailant was involved in another case in St John Bosco Street, Sliema, when a 73-year-old woman was injured when she too resisted demands for cash. The assailant ran off with some €50 in cash.  

At the time, the assailant was believed to be a man but DNA analysis on a hat the assailant dropped before fleeing the scene revealed the blood was of a female. 

The inspector said that from the very beginning, the police knew the same person had committed both crimes and investigations led to the profile of the aggressor. 

Defence lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Francesca Zarb requested bail, insisting that investigations had been concluded months ago. But the inspector objected due to the woman’s character and her previous convictions. 

Magistrate Axiaq granted the accused bail against a €100 deposit and a €10,000 personal guarantee. She has to be indoors between 9pm and 7am and sign the bail book twice a week.