Karozzin driver denied bail after being charged with string of armed robberies

The driver of a horse-drawn carriage (karozzin) was denied bail yesterday, following a number of charges filed against him in relation to aggravated theft committed in just two weeks.

Kersten Catania, 25, from Marsa pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

The accused had been arrested following an alleged string of armed robberies, culminating in an incident which took place on 22 January at around 9.30pm.

Mr Catania is said to have returned to a confectionery in Qormi, which he had allegedly already robbed some days before, armed with a firearm and hoody, demanding cash from a teenage salesgirl.

Like something out of an action movie, the shop owner swiftly got hold of the accused, with the assistance of an offduty constable and prison warden who were luckily on the scene, and managed to hold onto him until the police arrived.

The first theft is said to have taken place in the very same Qormi confectionery, in Guze Muscat Street, where he is reported to have threatened female sales girls with a pointed object and made off with an unspecified amount of cash.

He was then said to have robbed a pharmacy also in Qormi and Marsa.

The courts also charged Mr Catania with having committed these crimes while under a probation order, taking into consideration that he had relapsed.

Lawyer Martin Fenech, defending the accused, asked the courts to take into consideration the fact that Mr Catania’s girlfriend was due to give birth and asked that he may be granted bail to witness the occasion.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit denied bail on the grounds that the accused could influence the witnesses involved.

Inspectors Saviour Baldacchino and Kylie Borg prosecuted. a Polo Club in