Suspected ringleader of three home intruders denied bail

One of a gang of three armed men who stormed a house in St Paul’s Bay and demanded money from its occupant has been remanded in custody yesterday.

Before Magistrate Monica Vella, Inspector Godwin Scerri arraigned Salah Sharif from Tripoli and charged him with attempted armed robbery, causing slight injury to one of the occupants, aggravated theft of a mobile phone, carrying a knife during the commission of a crime and criminal damage. Sharif was also charged with holding two men against their will, breaching the peace and threatening the men.

Inspector Scerri explained how the man, together with two accomplices who are still on the run, broke into a residence in St. Paul’s Bay at 7pm on 22 July, armed with a knife and a saw. He then allegedly held two persons against their will, injuring one of the victims. He had demanded money, said the Inspector, but ended up taking only a mobile phone. He was arrested at the scene, whilst the other two men escaped the police.

40 year old Sharif, a plasterer by profession, told the court that he was pleading not guilty to the charges.

Legal aid lawyer Martin Fenech requested bail. “He’s denying his involvement. He’s been in Malta for 20 years taking care of his parents and is married with children. It means that if he was aggressive or violent he would have slipped up over the past 20 years.”

In the past two decades, Sharif had retained an unblemished criminal record without so much as a conviction for a traffic offence, he said.

“He was there at the time to buy something and the others had attacked at that time. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said the lawyer.

But the police inspector argued that the police had good evidence that he was the ringleader of the trio. There were a number of witnesses who live near the accused who are yet to testify, he added. The investigations with regards to the other two men are also still ongoing, said the inspector, implying that the accused could make contact with them if granted bail.

Magistrate Vella denied bail at this stage, citing the possibility of tampering with evidence.