A Criminal Court of Appeal has called for the case of a man who admited to falsification of VRT tests and certificates to be heard again infront of a Court of Magistrates.

The court, which was presided over by Justice Giovanni Grixti, heard Jesmond Pulis, aged 52 and from Zabbar, and owner of XTC Towing Services, allege that his confession was vitiated.

Pulis claimed that he was told by the police that had he admitted to the offence, they would be able to relieve his suspended sentence, which he already had, and do community work instead.

The Court of Appeal noted that the rights of the accused do not begin within the courts but beforehand. He had admitted to the charges before Magistrate Ian Farrugia after having refused legal assistance and ignored the warning by the courts. He was sentenced to three years in prison and was fined €10,000 on 30 March 2017. The court also revoked his garage license for 15 years and had executing a suspended sentence, adding another two years to the prison term.

Justice Grixti said that it appeared that the accused did not understand the consequences of the first accusation, which landed him in three years of prison.

The Court of Appeal also noted that while the first court did not make any mistakes, it should have noticed that the accused did not understand the minimum and maximum sentence he could get should he admit to the offence.

The case was thusly ordered to appear before the Court of Magistrates once again.

Pulis was represented by Lawyer Roberto Montalto