A former prisons inmate pointed an accusing finger at a third party as the mastermind behind a violent hold-up in August that had left a Żurrieq jeweller fighting for his life, in a state his family described as “worse than dead”.

The woman, whose name cannot be published under a court ban, was summoned on Monday to testify in the compilation of evidence against Donna Borg Sciberras, Zuhair Hadoumi and Mohamed Anas Boualam who are pleading not guilty to perpetrating the robbery. 

“I only knew that it [the robbery] was going to happen but I did not know by whom,” started off the witness, diving headlong into the case before presiding Magistrate Ian Farrugia told her to provide a step-by-step account. 

“It all started in jail,” said the woman, explaining that she had been at Corradino Correctional Facility under preventive custody between May and July.

“There was this woman [name banned]. She told us about it. She planned it,” went on the witness, recalling how this woman was an inmate at the time she and Donna were in jail. 

“She was the one who told us about the elderly shop owner, the fact that there were no cameras and the time when he usually closed shop,” said the witness, stressing that “she [the other inmate] was the mastermind.”

She had told Donna and herself whether they were interested in carrying out the robbery.

Then all three stepped out of jail. 

The other inmate went first, “then Donna, then I.” 

Some time afterwards, all three former inmates met near the Detox centre.

Again, the alleged “mastermind” told them to hire a car which she could use and which Donna and the witness could then use for the hold up. 

“We discussed what to do and what not.”

The magistrate, seemingly not convinced by her account, warned her that she was to tell the whole truth. 

Unless she recalled clearly all the details, she would be sent down to the lockup to refresh her memory, the magistrate warned. 

“You are stressing her [the other inmate’s] involvement but nothing about Donna,” observed the court. 

“Donna was in two minds whether to do it or not. She was interested but did not know who to go with. So she held back.”

The alleged “mastermind” wanted to keep the car which the witness had hired in her own name, insisting that she needed it “to earn a living”.

“When I asked her what she intended to do, she told me ‘that’s my business.’”

“But I didn’t know what she had in mind. I didn’t know what she planned to do with the car and so I took it away from her. I didn’t want to land in trouble because of her.”

The two then broke off contact.

Pressed further to give more details about the robbery, the witness insisted, “I knew she [Donna] was going to do it, but I didn’t know with whom.” 

“But [the other unnamed inmate] was the brains. She gave us the information and the plan. Donna was interested.”

Then the witness recalled how Donna kept asking her to drive her to Żurrieq. 

“She asked me some four or five times. But I didn’t want. She would constantly remind me,” explained the witness, recalling that the last time was some two-and-a-half weeks before the robbery. 

She identified Donna in court and also said she recognised “the one in the middle [Anas]” as someone who usually wore a cap.

She would see him at a Valletta kiosk, she added. 

Hoodies in August triggered suspicion 

An off-duty policeman who happened to be in the area of the jewellery store that August 25 evening, car-pooling with friends, saw two men and a woman walking near the playground in the direction of Stiefnu Zerafa Street.

There was a “burly one,” a “thin one” and the woman, all three identified as the accused who were wearing hoodies. 

“The sight of hoodies in August triggered suspicion,” testified the officer. “That was what bothered me most.”

But when he asked his friends whether the jewellery shop was still operating, he was told that “it no longer did.” 

When the trio walked past him, the “burly one”-later identified as Anas- looked straight at the off duty officer, then walked on. 

He stopped at a corner while the other two crossed the road to the shop. By the time the officer and his friends drove off, there was nothing untoward.

“The shop was closed,” said the witness. 

The following day as soon as news of the robbery emerged, he immediately called his superiors to tell them all he had seen. 

Bundles of cash on wall unit

A police sergeant roped into the investigations had escorted Anas to a run-down Msida property on Marina Street. 

The suspect led the police to a kitchen unit indicating that his personal documents were there. 

But when the officer stretched one arm to the top of the unit, he came across bundles of cash.

“There were €50 notes, €20 notes together with the documents and some gold too.”

Anas also pointed out a drawer inside which was a gold watch which he admitted had been stolen in the Żurrieq hold-up. 

Inside that residence, the police also found a pen drive containing information about jewellery certificates belonging to Carabott jewellers and COVID-19 certificates belonging to the family. 

Victim’s pouch fished out at Ta’ Xbiex marina 

A witness recalled how one August evening, while sailing into the marina with his brother, they spotted “a black object” in the water. 

It was dusk. 

They fished it out and discovered that it was a black leather pouch with a strap. 

Inside they found an ID card, credit cards and “small boxes with cotton wool inside. The sort used to put gold items,” explained the witness.

There was no cash inside the pouch and they had no clue about its owner. 

But since whoever it was would surely miss his credit cards, the witness dropped off the pouch at the Msida police station on his way home. 

The case continues. 

AG lawyers Anthony Vella and Kaylie Bonett prosecuted together with Inspectors Lydon Zammit and Stephen Gulia.  Lawyers Mark Mifsud Cutajar, Brandon Muscat and Maria Karlsson are defence counsel. Lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell appeared parte civile.