A police sergeant testified on Tuesday how he had flagged incidents where three constables allegedly abducted and assaulted migrants they found on the streets.

Sergeant Alex Gauci was testifying in proceedings against constables Luca Brincat, 20, Rica Mifsud Grech, 22, and Jurgen Falzon, 24, who pleaded not guilty to the charges last week but were refused bail.

Sergeant Gauci, who is stationed in Hamrun, as were the three accused constables, said he was a former mentor to one of the accused, Luca Brincat.

He had flagged the alleged incidents involving the three constables after a fellow sergeant told him about how other officers at Hamrun had opened up to him about the alleged violence.

Under cross-examination by lawyer Franco Debono, he said that he was not familiar with the Qormi valley where some of the assaults allegedly took place but he categorically denied having instructed his subordinates to take any drunken migrants to the Marsa potato sheds and not to the police station.

“An ambulance is called to assist any drunk or unconscious persons,” he said.

Earlier, the court agreed to a prosecution request to appoint a psychiatrist to examine one of the alleged victims to confirm his current condition and whether he is fit to testify.

The request was made after psychiatrist Claire Axiak testified that she had followed the migrant, a 32-year-old Somali national, for several years and found him to have an anti-social personality, made worse by alcohol and drug abuse. 

She said he was admitted for treatment at the Floriana health clinic several times and then referred to Mount Carmel mental hospital for his own and other people’s safety.

The man had an anti-social personality, with total disrespect for rules. He was often aggressive towards staff, threatening to “kill” doctors and to “burn down the property” of social workers from the social welfare agency (AWAS), she testified.

She said he had a schizophrenic condition made worse by alcohol and drug abuse.

The doctor had recently found that he was taking shelter in some abandoned property opposite the Marsa open centre and would go to the Imam begging for money.

At first, the Imam pitied the man and gave him money. But the migrant probably wasted that money on drugs and when the Iman refused to give him more, the migrant would threaten him too.

He voiced his threats in a very aggressive manner and when his condition escalated all “were afraid of him,” the psychiatrist testified. 

Asked whether the man had ever spoken to her about any incident with the police, the witness replied in the negative, adding that had he said anything she would have told him to file a report.

The case continues.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud presided over the case. 

Inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Omar Zammit prosecuted, assisted by AG lawyers Anthony Vella and Kaylie Bonnett.

Lawyers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili are counsel to Mifsud Grech.

Lawyer Edmond Cuschieri is counsel to Falzon.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb are counsel to Brincat.