A man was forced to give up a chunk of his deposited bail money but retained his liberty after admitting to five counts of breaching bail conditions imposed upon him. 

Melvin Debono, 33, also known as il-Quws, was arraigned on Sunday after being accused of violating the curfew imposed by his bail conditions when he was spotted in Paceville at 4am. 

In court on Sunday, Debono registered an admission in front of Magistrate Kevan Azzopardi. 

Defence lawyer Franco Debono told the court that it was a one-time incident and not a prolonged breach of curfew or failing to sign the bail book. 

The accused had also expressed he was sorry to the prosecuting inspector immediately and told him he had no intention of doing it again. 

Debono was fined €2,000 and ordered to give up €1,500 in deposits and personal guarantee money from each of his five bail decrees, for a total of €6,000. His bail was also not revoked. 

The court was at its discretion to unilaterally revoke the man’s bail and forfeit all of the deposits and personal guarantees made for all five bail decrees, which in Debono’s case meant risking over €100,000.

His personal liberty was also at risk and he faced an effective jail term of up to 18 months. 

Debono is facing charges in several separate cases, including a massive €800,000 drug haul, a shooting incident in Paola and the torching of a boat in a Sliema arson incident. 

Last year Debono was spared jail time for aggravated cocaine possession after an appeals court found that the prosecution had not sufficiently proven a link between Debono and the drugs found in the car he was driving. 

Lawyer Franco Debono appeared for the accused. 

Police Inspector Omar Zammit prosecuted.