One of the alleged hitmen in the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination has been awarded over €7,000 in damages and interest, over delays in an 18-year court case stemming from a €2 million holdup on a cash van in 2000.
Alfred Degiorgio, under police custody since December 2017 and currently awaiting trial over his alleged involvement in the journalist’s murder alongside his brother George and co-accused Vincent Muscat, had filed constitutional proceedings claiming that his right to a fair hearing had been breached.
His claim stemmed from criminal proceedings linking him to the violent robbery wherein some Lm884,200 (€2 million) were stolen from a Group 4 cash van in Canon Road, Santa Venera in October 2000.
Emanuel Formosa, a company employee who had been driving the van, was cleared by a Magistrates’ Court.
Another co-accused, Mario Cutajar, at whose house the stolen cash had been subsequently discovered, was convicted for handling stolen property and was given a suspended sentence.
Degiorgio, named by the other co-accused under police questioning, was also found guilty of handling stolen property and was handed a suspended sentence in August 2017 - almost 17 years after he was...
