Gozitan septuagenarian Giuseppe Farrugia, one of two men charged with the murder of warden Fortunata Spiteri was yesterday granted bail on condition he did not leave the house or spoke to anyone apart from his family and lawyers.
The other defendant, John Attard, was however denied bail after Magistrate Paul Coppini ruled he was not convinced Attard would not tamper with evidence or commit another crime while he was out on bail.
The ruling was given just before Magistrate Coppini ruled there were enough reasons for the indictment of Attard, 56, of Xaghra, and Farrugia, 71, of Fontana, who are pleading not guilty to Spiteri's wilful homicide on August 10, 2001, at about 9.45 p.m.
They are also charged with the possession of a dagger without a licence and at the time of the commission of the crime.
Attard alone is also charged with relapsing.
Magistrate Coppini yesterday heard Fiona Farhad, Farrugia's niece and her husband Abdul, say they were prepared to house Farrugia if he was granted bail.
Dr Chris Said, for Farrugia, then requested bail on the grounds of Farrugia's state of health and age. He pointed out that Farrugia had been instrumental to the police investigation and that the court had by now heard most of the witnesses.
Magistrate Coppini acceded to the request, saying Farrugia's criminal record was relatively clean and acknowledging that he had heard most of the witnesses.
He ruled that Farrugia was to live with his niece and not leave the house except to go to court or hospital. He was also barred from communicating with third parties by telephone, except with members of his family and his lawyers and bound by a personal guarantee of Lm5,000.
Fiona and Abdul Farhad were also bound by a Lm250 deposit and a personal guarantee of Lm1,000 to ensure that Farrugia abided by his bail conditions.
Meanwhile, Attard was denied bail after Magistrate Coppini ruled that a look at Attard's criminal record and consideration of the circumstances of the case did not convince him that Attard would not try to tamper with evidence or commit another crime.
The case continues.
Police Superintendent Pierre Calleja and Inspectors Antonello Grech and Anglu Caruana are prosecuting.
Dr Carmelo Galea, Dr Emmanuel Mallia and Dr Giannella Caruana Curran are appearing for Attard, Dr Chris Said for Farrugia while Dr Anton Refalo is representing the Spiteri family.