MaltaMedia.com

A series of cases were presented in court on Friday, in which several men, Maltese and foreign, were charged.

Robert Cortis, a man from Mellieha was remanded in custody after appearing in court over several charges. He pleaded not guilty to the manufacture of an explosive device and hiding it in an abandoned building at Tat-Trapna in Rabat.

The 42 year old pleaded not guilty also to depositing explosive substances without having a license to do so, and to having in his possession a weapon with a license. He also pleaded not guilty to changing the location of the weapon without informing the police.

In another court hearing, a Chinese man was found guilty of employing people in his restaurant and massage parlour without having a work permit. Hou Tao, who hails from Attard, pleaded not guilty to hiding the fact that he was an employer from the ETC.

Tao was granted bail against a €2,000 guarantee.

Another foreigner was found guilty of stealing a laptop from a store in San Gwann. The incident happened in January.

Aleko Phandeev, from Georgia was found guilty also of fleeing police custody in March and with attacking and injuring slightly a police officer at the Gzira Health Centre on Thursday.

The 27 year old man was further charged with disturbing the peace and threatening a police officer. He was remanded in custody, while his case was postponed so as to give him time to consider his plea.

A 19 year old man from Syria was imprisoned for ten months on Friday morning after being found guilty of trying to leave Malta without a passport whilst using a fake document. Mohammed Haga pleaded guilty to the charges.

Ilmi Hussein, from Syria, also pleaded guilty to trying to leave Malta with a fake passport and to making an untrue declaration to a public official. The 22 year old was jailed for seven months.

Also on Friday morning, a man from Naxxar was given a sentence of two years imprisonment after being found guilty of stealing diving equipment from Mataqua in St Paul’s Bay. The diving equipment amounts to €6,744.

The man insisted that he had ensured that the equipment was not stolen, and that he had bought it from a drug user who needed the money.

He was also accused of driving a car without a license and of relapsing. The Magistrate ordered for the suspension of his driving license for a year.

Alexander Gialanze` Whiteford, a former prisoner, was imprisoned once again for four months.

The 27 year old was recorded saying that he would put a bomb under the car of a police inspector once he was set free. The man pleaded guilty to threatening a police officer, using offensive language and using inappropriately telephone equipment.

Magistrate Grixti gave the man a four month prison sentence and instructed the man against a €2,000 fine not to assault the officer and his family for one year.