Darryl Luke Borg loses compensation claim for wrongful arrest

A man who claimed he was illegally arrested and arraigned over a  hold-up in Birkirkara has lost a claim for compensation. Daryl Luke Borg was arrested on August 7 last year and subsequently accused of carrying out a hold-up at The Convenience Shop in Birkirkara. The magistrates' court had turned down a request for bail. He was released on August 9, the same day that another man, Roderick Grech, was arraigned and pleaded guilty. In his application, Borg said his arrest and arraignment were illegal because they were not based on reasonable suspicion. He argued that he should have been granted bail by the court, and he should have been released as soon as the police knew that another man had committed the crime. He therefore requested compensation. The Attorney General, the Director-General of the Courts and the Commissioner of Police denied that the arrest was not based on reasonable suspicion, pointing out that the police had received a tip-off. They had looked at CCTV, investigated the whereabouts of the accused and also noted his previous record, including involvement in theft. In its deliberations, the court regretted that the man most involved in the investigations,...