Police failed to present fingerprints as evidence

Fingerprints of the accused taken following a drugs bust were not presented during the compilation of evidence, a police inspector admitted in court yesterday.

Inspector Nezren Grixti was replying to questions put to him by defence lawyer Emanuel Mallia during cross-examination in a trial by jury of a man charged with conspiring to traffic in cannabis.

The inspector confirmed that the fingerprints taken during the investigation were not presented as evidence.

During the compilation, the case made by the police had hinged on a fingerprint found on one of the bars of cannabis allegedly discovered during the raid.

The inspector also testified that part of the surveillance during the bust was filmed but neither was this piece of evidence exhibited.

He added that he did not know who had taken the fingerprints of the accused at the police headquarters or where they were kept.

Inspector Grixti was testifying in the trial of Chris Grech, 28, of Qormi, who stands charged with conspiring to traffic and possession of 3.5 kilogrammes of cannabis, in circumstances which denote it was not for his exclusive use, on May 18, 2006.

Dr Mallia also alleged that his client was threatened with sports equipment such as a baseball bat at the police HQ shortly after being arrested.

The inspector flatly denied the allegation, saying the accused was never threatened in any way while under arrest.

The inspector said that on the day in question, he had ordered three groups of officers to conduct surveillance in the vicinity of the Splash and Fun Park in Baħar iċ-Ċaghaq.

At around 7 p.m., the accused, accompanied by another man, arrived in a white Peugeot 406 near a field in the White Rocks area. Officers saw the passenger hiding a sack of drugs in some bushes, the inspector said.

The accused and this man left the scene and were then spotted in front of the ice cream seller near the Splash and Fun Park, where they spoke to another two men in a white Kia Avella. The men followed each other in their cars up to the White Rocks complex but they spotted the police and made a quick getaway.

The men in the Kia were picked up about an hour later in Paola while the accused went to the police headquarters voluntarily after he had spoken to his father, the inspector said.

In three statements to the police, the accused denied his involvement and refused to answer a lot of the questions put to him by the inspector but claimed he had stopped by in the field to urinate.

In fact, he claimed he left the area in a hurry because the officers had given him a fright and he urinated on himself in the car.

Taking the witness stand, Police Sergeant Antoine Micallef said he could remember one shot being fired after the men left the scene. Asked by Dr Mallia if the number of shots fired was five, the witness said he could only remember one shot.

Sergeant Nikolai Borg told the court he fired a warning shot when he saw the car drive off. During cross examination, Dr Mallia asked him if during a confrontation in the Assistant Police Commissioner's office between him and Mr Grech, he had got so angry that he almost assaulted the accused. The sergeant denied the allegation.

Lawyer Aaron Bugeja from the Attorney Generals' Office prosecuted.