The Balzan Nationalist Mayor Dr John Zammit Montebello was the doctor who cared for the accused who was shot in the face by the Police during the attempted hold up on the HSBC centre in Qormi a few weeks ago.

The accused visited Dr Zammit Montebello twice. During his second visit, the Police burst in on them and arrested the two men who stand accused today.

These facts were made known today in the court of Magistrate Edwina Grima were the prosecution was presenting its case with regards to the Qormi attempted hold-up.

Dr Zammit Montebello testified as to how, the day after the hold-up, he received a phone call where he was informed that a patient needed to see him.

Once he saw the patient, Dr Zammit Montebello told the man that he needed to have an X-ray taken of his face before he could treat him, as there may be foreign matter embedded in his face which needed to be identified.

It is normal practice that when a medical professional is faced with any wounds that appear suspicious, the doctor informs the police immediately. It is not clear whether the Nationalist Balzan Mayor informed the Police immediately or not.

It is nonetheless certain that Dr Zammit Montebello, instead of sending the accused to Mater Dei in order to have an X-ray taken, chose to send him to a the private hospital, DA Vinci in Birkirkara instead.
A day after the X-ray was taken, the accused returned to Dr Zammit Montebello, known to his friends as ‘Goofy’ and it was precisely during this visit that the Police burst in on them.

The doctor and staff of the Private Hospital Da Vinci also testified in this case. They said that they heard the accused and those accompanying him saying that he used acetylene as part of his job and that, in an accident at work, a piece of metal lodged in his face.

Proof was also presented that the accused made use of a false name at the private hospital and that at no point did he present his ID card.

When he originally approached the counter at the private hospital, he claimed that he had been sent there by ‘Goofy’, a reference to Dr Zammit Montebello. The receptionist however, did not know Dr Zammit Montebello by this nickname and it was another doctor who happened to be in the hospital at the time, who explained the reference to the receptionist.

Medical personnel from Mater Dei Hospital also testified during the same Court session where they claimed to have operated on the accused, removing parts of a bullet from his face. The bullet parts were handed over to the Police.