Gozo Channel bomb scare suspect granted bail amid lack of evidence
Civil Protection Department worker allegedly behind fake bomb threats which halted Gozo Channel ferry service over the weekend
A man accused of issuing bomb threats to the Gozo Channel ferry service has been released on bail after a hearing, at which a lawyer argued that no evidence existed which actually linked his client to the offence.
Marvin Tabone, 43, from Imqabba and employed with the Civil Protection Department, was arraigned in court after his arrest in connection with a spate of alarming telephone calls that warned of bombs on ferries operating between Malta and Gozo. The calls were received by police at about 7 pm, sending tourists and patients who travel on the ferries into a panic.
Inspector Zachary Zammit of the police terrorism unit said that the court had received bomb threats concerning the ferries operating between Malta and Gozo.
Investigators traced the calls to Tabone's mobile number and tracked it; officers searched for him at his residence. He was not home at first, but the police found him near his son's residence and brought him in at 7:45 pm. Still in shock, the inspectors said, Tabone handed them his mobile phone and the password of said phone.
Although he was released shortly after his first arrest, the police managed to obtain a search and arrest warrant due to reasonable suspicion that he was the one who had made the threats. Officers searched his home and vehicle later in Imqabba. While the phone, which was allegedly used for making the calls, has not been found, the box it was bought in was found.
During the sitting, Tabone's lawyer Franco Debono entered a plea of not guilty and requested bail, arguing that his client was a family man with deep roots in the community and an unblemished career in the Civil Protection Department. Debono asked the court to uphold the principle of the presumption of innocence and turn down any request to deny him bail since no tangible evidence bound Tabone to the offence in question.
Debono continued by saying that if Tabone pleaded guilty, a sentence without incarceration was likely to be meted out and so it was not reasonable that he remain in custody. "Bail is there to protect against the unfair detainment of a person who could result acquitted," said Debono, continuing that no single evidence ever tied Tabone with the phone calls.
The prosecution opposed bail outright in view of the gravity of the offence and the implication it had upon public safety and transportation.
Inspector Zammit referred to the distress caused to residents and tourists commuting by ferries, saying the prank calls disrupted an essential service and affected the businesses operating in Gozo. He further observed that there were several witnesses, whose testimony will form part of the compilation of evidence.
After having heard the submissions, Magistrate Rachel Montebello upheld the request for bail. She ordered that Tabone sign the bail book regularly and set the bail conditions with a deposit of €3,000 and a personal guarantee of an additional amount of €3,000.
Inspectors Zachary Zammit, Mohammed Shurrab, Keith Xerri and Italo Mizzi prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Adreana Zammit were defence counsel.
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