Man cleared of shooting at elderly woman's front door

A man facing a raft of charges for allegedly firing shots at the front door of an elderly Paola resident five years ago was acquitted for lack of evidence linking him to the crime scene.

Melvin Debono, now 31, was accused of firing the shots at the victim’s residence on Luqa Street on November 19, 2017 at 4.50pm.

A “loud noise” had prompted the elderly lady to look outside but, initially, she did not see anything.

It was only later when she headed downstairs that she spotted the hole in her front door.

She first reckoned that the damage might have been caused by some hard object projected onto her door by passing traffic. 

But when it was seen by third parties who visited the woman the following day, a report was filed to police, triggering investigations which led to the discovery of a firearm cartridge nearby. 

CCTV footage from the site subsequently confirmed that a shooting incident had taken place. 

That footage captured a Mercedes Benz, its number plate clearly visible, which came to a halt some way ahead and a hand emerged from the driver’s side, pulling a trigger. 

That vehicle was traced to the accused’s father who, however, told the police that although he was the...