Drug trafficking suspect Mohamed Ali Ahmed Elmushraty, better known as Lilu King, was ordered to pay €10,000 but did not lose his personal liberty after admitting to an early morning argument with police during a boxing match at Ta’ Qali.

The prosecution told court on Monday that a commotion broke out at around 12.15am on June 1 at the boxing event when a promoter wanted Lilu to leave.

Elmushraty was acting as coach to one of his partners.

When police approached the man, it took them around half an hour to convince him to leave the venue.

As the officers were escorting him outside, Elmushraty began to insult the police officers.

However, he was not arrested on the spot.

The following day - on June 2 at 6.37am police turned up at Elmushraty’s Żebbuġ residence, equipped with an arrest warrant and a letter of rights.

He was escorted for interrogation, cooperating all along and apologising for his behaviour.

On Monday morning he was led to court, facing charges for breaching two sets of bail conditions by committing an offence while out on bail, insulting and threatening the four police officers at the event, refusing to obey their legitimate orders and wilful breach of public peace.

He registered an admission.

His lawyers, Franco Debono and Jose Herrera, explained that the accused had not breached his bail curfew at the time of the incident since he had obtained a one-time court extension till 2.30am.

Moreover, he had fully cooperated with investigators, said he was sorry and apologised for the incident, then filed a guilty plea at the earliest possible opportunity.

Recent amendments to the formerly draconian law, meant that in such circumstances revocation of bail and re-arrest were no longer mandatory, they argued.

Moreover, the law now allowed the court discretion to determine how much of the bail money was to be confiscated, pointed out Debono when making submissions on punishment.

The prosecution did not insist on re-arrest.

He was risking having his bail in two cases revoked and re-arrested. He also risked losing €80,000 bail in one case and €10,000 bail in another case. 

Apart from losing his bail deposits and guarantees, he also faced up to two years imprisonment over breach of bail and up to two years imprisonment for the altercation with the police. 

Since the accused was likely to forfeit part of the bail deposit, the court ought to consider a minimum fine, argued Herrera.

However, the prosecution disagreed, requesting a fine tending towards the maximum on a scale between €800 and €4,000.

Superintendent Joseph Busuttil, overseeing the prosecution, suggested a suspended sentence to ensure that similar accidents did not happen again.

After due consideration, the court, presided over by magistrate Kevan Azzopardi, declared Elmushraty guilty upon his own admission and fined him €4,000.

The court also ordered the confiscation of another €6,000 in bail bonds.

The total sum of €10,000 was payable within six months.

Mohamed Elmushraty. Photos: Instagram

'Don’t lose your mind if you’re going to participate in sport events'

“You must control the adrenaline in you if you intend to continue coaching or attending such events,” warned the magistrate, observing that a coach had “as much adrenaline as a player”.

And since adrenaline levels ran high in such sporting events, Elmushraty had to “learn how to control” himself, warned the magistrate, observing that the incident could have had much more serious consequences.

“I’m sorry. It was not intended,” said Elmushraty, as he nodded in understanding, towering behind his lawyers as he stood in the dock.

“Today you could have lost bail. Don’t lose your mind if you’re going to participate in such sport events,” added the magistrate.

Inspectors Francesca Calleja and Joseph Mallia prosecuted.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Jose Herrera and Adreana Zammit were defence counsel.