The Commissioner of Police has been ordered to appear in person before a magistrate and explain why his officers have been unable to notify with summons a man from Nadur for a staggering five years.
Magistrate Ian Farrugia made the unusual pronouncement this morning, as a tax evasion case filed by the Director of Inland Revenue against Peter Paul Muscat from Gozo continued. Muscat is on the police wanted list as failing to pay tax is a criminal offence, however he could not be served with a summons for the criminal proceedings.
Police say they cannot find him and his family members claim not to know his whereabouts and that his ID card information is out of date.
The magistrate was irritated by the fact that the police had not succeeded in finding the man on the 67 km2 island and serving him with his summons for over five years.
“...This time the court feels it should not concede further to the competent authority who is the Commissioner of Police,” said the court in a decree delivered this morning. “The order of the court is now clear; either the accused will appear for the next sitting on 9 May 2018 or the Commissioner of Police will appear personally, to explain how Peter Paul Muscat allegedly cannot be traced on the little island that is Gozo.”