Man threatens to shoot on planes in cry to police for help, court told
The 42-year-old was put on probation for three years
A man was put on probation for three years after he admitted to threatening the police that he would shoot on planes and people.
The court was told the man had acted impulsively in a cry for help.
On handing down judgment, the court noted that the man had been abused by his father as a child, his brother has a disability, and his mother was fighting an illness.
While he knew that what he did was wrong, he did not comprehend the real impact of his actions, and his impulsive actions were his way of asking for help, the court heard.
The man, 42, from Birżebbuġa, was arraigned last year and charged with causing people to fear that violence would be used against them, threatening the police, simulating an offence, spreading false news and misusing computer equipment in March 2025.
His name is not being published due to his vulnerable state of mental health.
During his arraignment, police inspector Roxanne Tabone had testified that an investigation kicked off after the police received messages through their Facebook page from a fake profile.
In his messages, the person claimed that officers from the counter-terrorism unit had taken his things, and unless they returned them, he would go to the airport and shoot at aircraft and people.
The inspector said the Facebook profile was already under investigation since similar threats were made in January.
At the time, the accused had threatened to launch drone attacks and was charged in court over the claims. His home was searched, but no drones were found.
An inspection of his mobile phone had revealed six fake profiles belonging to him.
In his messages to the police, the man sent videos of damage to an aircraft, which was actually caused by a bird strike.
The man had claimed that he was the victim of a scam and was seeking to attract the police's attention to the case.
In one of his messages, he told the police: “Once you don’t care about what they did to me, then I do not care about other people".
Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Adreana Zammit appeared for the accused.