Elderly robbery victim fell to the ground and yelled in pain

The case regarding the man who is accused of being a co-principal in the theft of jewellery from three elderly women, and aggravated theft on one continued yesterday morning.

Helena Vella, one of the victims, gave her testimony yesterday. She said that as a result of a man ripping her necklace off, she fell to the ground and felt pain all over.

The accused is 53-year-old Joseph Xuereb, and the accusations are over incidents that occurred in 2012. He is accused of being the driver of the person who allegedly snatched the jewellery.

Ms Vella said that on the day, she had gone to Tarxien to see her daughter. “I remember ringing her doorbell and a man came up to me. I didn’t understand what he told me.”

She said she told him sorry so that he would repeat what he said. At that point he grabbed her necklace, pulled it and she fell to the ground. Her daughter was still inside and didn’t know what had happened.

She testified that her aggressor then ran away. She said her aggressor was wearing a T-shirt and had a tattoo on his hand, and wasn’t of a dark complexion.

She said that when this happened, and she fell to the ground, she started shouting and felt pain all over her body. She did not know how much the necklace was worth, but said it was given to her by her husband as a gift.

She was taken to the health centre by her daughter’s husband and was eventually taken to hospital for an X-ray. She ended up with one hand and leg in casts, and she also had to wear a collar.

Since then, she said, she has had to walk with a walking stick.

After leaving hospital, she went to live with her daughter.

Answering questions by Dr Arthur Azzopardi (for the defence), she said that there was no car close by as the aggressor kept running for a while.

Dr Arthur Azzopardi declared that the accused will not be testifying.

Dr Franco Debono, also appearing for the defendant, argued that no CCTV footage was shown as it was convenient for the prosecution not to show it. He also said that none of the eyewitnesses ever mentioned Joseph Xuereb. He argued that no description of the accused ever emerged during these proceedings, as nobody saw him.