A magistrate today reprimanded the police for only pressing charges against a man six years after their investigation, after a file had been misplaced.
John Paul Charles Woods was accused of having fraudulently obtained scuba diving gear worth under €5,000 in 2011, misappropriation and being a relapser.
The case file was misplaced when the prosecuting police inspector retired from the police force and was only rediscovered this year.
Magistrate Joe Mifsud said the court could not fail to comment on what he called "serious problems in the police force".
"We cannot have situations where the police investigate a case in September 2011 and the accused is charged in September 2017." The court described this as an injustice to the accused, his family and the victims of the crime.
Although the passage of time did not reduce the accused's criminal responsibility or the fact that he had to repay his debt to society, the court observed that it could benefit the accused if he showed that over that time he had shown a commitment to reforming himself, quoting the 2002 judgement by the
Woods was sentenced to probation for three years and placed on a three-year treatment order.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2ymEIq5
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