Man charged with assault freed due to presidential shortcoming

A man has walked free from charges of grievous bodily harm after an administrative hiccup involving the Office of the President.

Redeemer Camilleri, 26, was charged in August with assault after he allegedly hit another man on the head with a bottle during a heated argument.

Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo was assigned to the case with the first sitting of the compilation of evidence set for September 15. However, on that day, only Camilleri and his defence lawyers, Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb, appeared in court, with no sign of the prosecution.

The court put off the case to October 8, with the month-long window for the compilation of evidence extended until October 15 under a procedure which requires the president’s go-ahead.

At the next sitting, the prosecution again failed to turn up, this time because the officers were occupied in a trial. The court put off the case once more, this time to October 27. During that sitting, it transpired that a second request to extend the preliminary evidence stage had not come back from the Office of President George Vella.

An assistant registrar testified that, about two weeks earlier, the request had been sent from the courts to...