The Criminal Court presided by Mr Justice Michael Mallia yesterday turned down an appeal by the Attorney General (AG) against an inferior court´s decision granting David Gatt bail.
Dr Gatt, a former police inspector who graduated as a lawyer, was granted bail on Monday after Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona upheld a request by his defence counsel.
Besides imposing a deposit and a personal guarantee of €10,000 each, the court ordered Dr Gatt to sign in at the Birkirkara police station twice a day; between 8am and noon as well as between 5 and 6pm. Moreover, he must be home by 10pm and not leave the house before 8am, every day.
After hearing submissions on the request for bail, the court said it did not have a reason to think that the accused was not going to observe the imposed conditions. It therefore could not deny bail.
In a list of 14 charges, Dr Gatt is being charged with being an accomplice in the attempted hold-up of a bank security van in Qormi in January 2010 and with the €1 million heist at an HSBC branch in Balzan in November, 2007.
Dr Gatt is also accused of complicity in the attempted hold-up of jeweller Michael Mizzi in Attard on 3 December and complicity in the attempted holdup at HSBC’s head office in June last year.
In its decree yesterday, the Criminal Court believed balance needed to be established between the AG’s preoccupation and the accused´s rights, the principal aim being to continue the ongoing procedures without disturbing the interests of either.
It noted that the first court had profoundly appreciated the need for this balance by imposing rigorous conditions over and above those normally applied. These ensure the accused will be present for the court procedure against him and which is in the final stages of the compilation of evidence.
There is therefore no reason for the accused to be remanded in custody without the possibility of prejudicing his fundamental rights, Mr Justice Mallia ruled.
The court added that the interest of the state had been honoured by the first court´s decree and there is no reason for it to be changed. The AG´s appeal for bail to be revoked was therefore turned down.
Making submissions to back the appeal, lawyers Lara Lanfranco and Leonard Caruana, on behalf of the AG’s office, said that before a court decided to grant bail, it must assess the seriousness and circumstances of the case as well as the accused´s character.
Dr Gatt is accused with forming an association of persons with the intention of committing crimes. He was allegedly the mastermind. The AG feared that witnesses will be traced as was the case with Dr John Zammit Montebello, whom Dr Gatt allegedly told to not testify. Dr Gatt consequently could not be trusted.
The court must not rest on his clean police record because he had connections with a number of persons whom the courts knew well. Can the court ascertain he will not commit another crime? He was always a man to operate behind the scenes, Dr Lanfranco said.
Dr Edward Gatt, on behalf of the defence, rebutted with the reasons the court listed for granting bail.
On this basis, he argued it was unacceptable to remand him in custody once again.
Arguments like being a lawyer and supposedly knowing better, or that he is a Sicilian Mafia model because a game and a dvd were found among his personal items, do not stand.
The substance of a case was not normally taken into consideration in considering bail. Usually, a magistrate considered the accused’s criminal record and decided whether to grant bail or not. In this case it was PC Mario Portelli, the main witness, who had a criminal record and not Dr Gatt.
Dr Joseph Giglio, Edward Gatt, Stephen Tonna Lowell, Mark Vassallo appeared for the defence.