Alleged killer boasted of bomb threats in Scotland
Edward William Johnston used multiple social media profiles to harass his victim, Nicolette Ghirxi, and boasted about his involvement in a previous bomb threat in Glasgow, according to her family members. New details are emerging about the Irish man who was fatally shot by police on Monday morning after allegedly stabbing his ex-partner to death in her Birkirkara home. The Times of Malta reports that Johnston claimed to be the same individual who was imprisoned for a restaurant bomb threat in Glasgow in 2012 and had a close encounter with police in Liverpool just a week earlier, where he pointed a replica gun at officers and dared them to shoot him. Further news reports suggest that authorities are still working to confirm whether the man shot by police, who was pointing a fake weapon at the time, is indeed the same person involved in these previous incidents. (Times of Malta)
Man accused of spyware charges files to challenge extradition to US
Daniel Joe Meli has filed an appeal against a court’s decision to extradite him to the United States on spyware-related charges. Meli, 27, from Żabbar, initially consented to the extradition during his arraignment in February but later appealed, arguing that the court had failed to consider his history of mental illness. After that appeal was dismissed, Meli’s lawyers initiated constitutional proceedings, which were also rejected in July. In his new appeal against the dismissal of his constitutional complaint, Meli contends that the First Hall of the Civil Court, in its Constitutional jurisdiction, interpreted the case “only from the criminal limb of the right to a fair trial.” He also disputes the court’s application of fair trial rights to extradition proceedings and its ruling that he was not a victim under the law. In the judgment, Madam Justice Doreen Clarke ruled that fair trial safeguards apply to extradition proceedings only when the requesting country routinely and flagrantly breaches that right. She rejected Meli’s claim of a violation of his fair trial rights, noting that he had been allowed to file an appeal despite his initial consent to the extradition. (Maltatoday)
Femicide is yet another police failure – PN
“It is yet another failure of Byron Camilleri that, following the murder of Bernice Cassar, he was unable to ensure that the police were adequately resourced to take reports like those made by Nicolette seriously before it’s too late,” Nationalist Party Leader Bernard Grech stated on Monday. He made this comment in response to the murder of Nicolette Ghirxi, who was allegedly killed in her Swatar (Birkirkara) apartment by Edward Johnston, an Irish national reportedly in a relationship with her. Bernice Cassar was murdered nearly two years ago in Paola, marking the first case in the country where the perpetrator was charged with femicide. Grech emphasized that “the system has claimed another woman’s life,” adding, “We cannot continue to fail woman after woman, family after family.” (The Malta Independent)
