A member of the Civil Protection Department on Monday pleaded not guilty to charges of making a bomb threats that disrupted the Gozo Channel ferry service over the weekend. 

Marvin Tabone, 43, was arraigned on a series of charges including causing fear of violence, misuse of electronic communications equipment and falsely reporting the commission of a crime. 

He was also charged before Magistrate Rachel Montebello with committing a crime he was duty-bound to prevent. 

One of the prosecuting officers told the court that the calls sparked "great panic." 

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 Mqabba.

While the phone, which was allegedly used for making the calls, has not been found, the box it was bought in was found.

He was later found at the locality's church and handed over his mobile phone to the police, along with instructions for how to unlock it. 

A request for bail was objected to in light of that fact as well as the fact that civilian witnesses were still to testify.

Tabone was granted bail under a deposit of €3,000, a personal guarantee of €3,000, signing the bail book three times weekly and under strict orders not to approach prosecution witnesses, particularly those named in the bail decree.