A man and a woman who mugged a woman and beat her with a metal tow hook have been jailed for a combined 15 years.
The violent robbery by Ramon Abela, 47, and Miriam Elabed, 29, took place at midnight on May 10, 2019.
Their victim, a Macedonian woman, was walking along Manwel Dimech Street in Sliema when one of the muggers wearing a light-coloured cap crept up behind her, shouting: “give me the bag”.
The stranger, later described as a person “of masculine build”, snatched the victim’s black handbag, dragging its owner all the way to the passenger side of a Mercedes C Class vehicle which had driven up alongside them, headlights switched off.
As the woman put up a struggle to stop the thief from getting away with her belongings, the aggressor struck out with a 19-cm long metal tow hook, beating the victim mercilessly.
As the getaway car drove off, the injured woman somehow managed to walk to her son’s home. She was taken to the nearby St James Hospital and subsequently Mater Dei Hospital for treatment, after she was found to have suffered various injuries, including a fractured arm.
Tracking the culprits
Police investigations kicked off to track down the aggressor and the driver of the getaway car.
CCTV footage, as well as other evidence from the crime scene, led to the arrest of the couple who were charged with aggravated theft as well as injuring the victim or causing her infirmity of mind.
Both were separately charged with relapsing, while Elabed was further charged with committing the alleged offences during the operative term of a suspended sentence.
During interrogation, both agreed that they were together at the time of the incident, but each blamed the other for the violence against the elderly victim, each one claiming that he/she had been in the driver’s seat.
After the robbery, they bought drugs with the €70 cash they had found in a small red wallet inside the handbag, together with the victim’s mobile, Macedonian passport and a cheque.
The mobile was later found by a third party at Balluta and was handed over to the police.
Abela escorted the investigators to Cospicua, indicating a skip where other items had been dumped, including the handbag and wallet, the victim’s house key and the metal hook used in the mugging.
DNA analysis of a reddish substance found on one of the car mirrors proved to match the victim’s blood.
When delivering judgment on Monday the court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, said that the evidence put forward by the prosecution provided an unequivocal view of the roles of both accused.
Elabed was “the inhuman, harsh and cruel aggressor” lacking all sense of morality who attacked the poor victim in a “bestial frenzy”.
Abela, on his part, played the role of getaway driver.
Were it not for him, the victim might have been spared the traumatic experience that marred her for life.
Her aggressor, although presenting a “masculine build”, had such stature and gait that left no doubt that it was Elabed, observed the court.
Abela stood by passively while Elabed mercilessly beat the innocent woman whom they targeted as their victim “in the bat of an eyelid," it added.
Five years for one, eight for the other
In light of such considerations, the court declared them guilty, condemning Abela to a five-year jail term and Elabed to an eight-year term.
The court also added a two-year jail in terms of a suspended sentence handed down to Elabed over a separate conviction.
The court placed both accused under a three-year treatment order.
Elabed was ordered to reimburse her victim €6,000, while Abela was ordered to reimburse her €3,000.
Inspectors Fabian Fleri, Lydon Zammit and Jonathan Ransley prosecuted.