EXCLUSIVE: Paul Sheehan was with his brother when he fired/Manuel Mallia’s young daughter was with Giovanna Sheehan in Gzira

Published: November 24, 2014 at 7:53pm

sheehan

So far we have been dealing with eyewitness accounts from where the shooting took place in Triq Wied Il-Kappara near the National Pool.

Do you remember how I mentioned that an eyewitness there saw somebody in the front passenger seat of GM14 while Paul Sheehan was standing outside it with a gun, but couldn’t make out whether it was a man or a woman because this person stayed inside the car?

I said it was significant that this person somehow disappeared from the car between Triq Wied Il-Kappara and its arrival in the tunnel, unless he disappeared in the tunnel or was standing there undetected. Finding him was going to be important because he was a witness to the whole thing.

Except that it is now less important in trial terms because siblings are exempt from testifying against each other. For that is who it was: Patrick Sheehan, Paul’s older brother.

I can now report an eyewitness account from Nicolas Cottoner Lane, where the Sheehans live, of what happened in that street that same night. Giovanna Sheehan – mother to Paul, 40, and Patrick, 47 – was standing in the street outside her house shouting and lamenting because somebody had crashed into the minister’s car, her sons had gone off after him “u jien ghandi t-tifla tal-ministru gewwa”.

Then Patrick Sheehan came running into the street and blurted out, within earshot of eyewitnesses: “Ma, Pawlu sparalu.”

So this is the situation: the Police Minister’s and Codruta Mallia’s young daughter, Carmela, had been left in the care of the Police Minister’s driver and his mother Giovanna at her Gzira home, where both the driver and his brother are registered as living.

When they heard the crash, both brothers rushed outside, jumped into the government car and went after the other man. They stopped him in Triq Wied Il-Kappara and Manuel Mallia’s driver got out with a gun while his brother stayed in the car. At some point immediately after the shooting, his brother climbed out and ran back home, saying to his mother in the street, “Ma, Paul shot at him.”

It follows from this that Manuel Mallia had to have known exactly what happened that night because his very young daughter was at Mrs Sheehan’s home when the shooting occurred.




33 Comments Comment

  1. ken il malti says:

    How is fat Leli going to weasel out of this one?

  2. Spir says:

    Should not a girl her age be tucked up in bed at that time? But like this he saves on babysitters.

    [Daphne – They’re Maltese/Romanian hamalli. The concept of a strict early bedtime for children is totally alien to them. Maltese hamalli let their children stay up half the night and the household bedtime is the same for everyone, whether they are 10 or 40. Or in this case, 60+. They don’t understand that children have to be in bed and asleep by 8pm max.]

  3. Josette says:

    So the Minister’s drivers are also his babysitters – and in this case, it was the driver who is always high on Red Bull.

  4. Mila says:

    It gets better and better! Why on earth would the minister leave his daughter with his driver? Is he too stingy to afford a nanny?

    The mind boggles

  5. Mim says:

    If Morrison Smith saw two men in hot pursuit he would have had more reason to flee for his life!

  6. Francesca says:

    Manuel Mallia so has to go. Bunch of cowardly cowboys. Come on be man enough to admit that you are a lying conniving toad.

    Mallia seems to have picked up so much more than dirty money from his clients over the years.

  7. CIS says:

    Paul Sheehan was on duty – in between waiting for the Minister to finish with the function he was at, in Police headquarters. He must have phoned him to tell him that he will not be picking him up and the reason why. It’s the most logical thing on earth. The Minister is a lawyer – therefore he would have given instructions – professionally so to speak.

  8. Rosie says:

    Anyone still have any doubts about Simon Busuttil ‘s credentials?

  9. anthony says:

    Attakk fahxi u moqziez fuq it-tifla ta’ Manuel Mallia.

  10. Madoff says:

    On a different subject, Simon Busuttil has taken off and was simply fantastic tonight in parliament.

  11. Beingpressed says:

    What chance do our children have with this lot

  12. ron says:

    X’tithawwar il-borma!

  13. disgustat says:

    Il-qahbecc x’gideb. Vera cover up. Povra tifla, min jaf x’hasbet.

  14. Persil says:

    Being a minister’s driver does not give you the power to shoot. Why should the minister be held responsible for the shooting? The policeman in question should be held responsible for what happened.

    • Angus Black says:

      If by now, you haven’t understood what the real issue is, you never will, Persil.

      The main issue is Mallia stating that Sheehan had fired warning shots ‘in the air’ on Wednesday night but the next morning admitted that his driver shot AT Morrison Smith’s car.

      The theory that he was fed the wrong information becomes a cropper as more and more eyewitness reports come to light. To make the story short, Mallia lied and if a Minister is caught lying, in a sane country – he goes, and fast.

  15. Mallia says:

    The only real investigative journalist on this rock!

  16. Candy says:

    Ain’t no use to hide, ain’t no need to run.

  17. IZ ZORRO says:

    I see from the promo that Xarabank will not be discussing guns and drivers on Friday.

  18. Can't take no more says:

    Poor girl. Hope she is all right. How irresponsible to behave like that when you have young children in your care. Why was she with a gun tooting officer in the first place?

    I would never trust my children with an armed person, never. This says a lot about Mallia. He doesn’t even have enough respect for his children, let alone for the plebeians he is supposed to be serving.

  19. George says:

    I have this strong feeling that Paul Sheehan will be prosecuted in a manner that the judge or jury cannot be convinced beyond doubt of those particular charges.

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      The Chewbacca Defence. Joseph Muscat is already hard at it.

      This is a bridge. Look at this bridge. Look at it. It costs three quarters of a million. Look at the bridge. It doesn’t make sense. The bridge does not make sense.

      The bridge is here. Look at it. It does not make sense. I do not make sense. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, nothing I have said so far makes sense. Therefore, you must acquit. Thank you.

      • ken il malti says:

        Or, “if the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit”

      • ciccio says:

        Yes, and they made that bridge look bigger than it would need to be, so that the people will talk about it and say that it does not make sense to build a bridge like that.

        The bigger the lie…

      • Angus Black says:

        Purposely left out three zeros H.P just so the defendant will be let off the hook on a ‘technicality’?

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Damn, I’m good. I’m making Freudian Chewbacca slips. It’s billion of course. But don’t tell anyone.

  20. Respect says:

    So is Mrs Sheehan getting paid to babysit Manuel and Codruta’s daughter?

    If she is paid, is it with public money or their personal cash?

  21. Gahan says:

    “However, Galea allowed the minister to go ahead. “I had no indication that any of the two security guards would make use of a weapon,” Mallia said, adding that he even trusted his daughter with the two chauffeurs”

    http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/46691/mallia_to_demand_resignations_if_inquiry_uncovers_attempts_of_coverup_by_ministry_officials#.VHOpZyiInfY

  22. zz says:

    Why haven’t the press picked up this story? This is explosive and completely changes the relationship between Mallia and his driver.

    Mallia cannot defend himself with the phrase “the driver I was given by the police”. The driver is an extension to Mallia and his wife because they trust him with their very young daughter, a trust which goes beyond that of driver and his passenger.

    Moreover, as it seems that the child was in the driver’s care, Mallia needs to answer the following questions.

    When the driver was at his mother’s house while Mallia was on official business, was he on full pay or on call benefit? He should have been waiting outside for his boss, not babysitting the boss’s daughter at his mother’s house.

    As the driver and his mother were taking care of Mallia’s child, are they being paid for this service? How much is this service costing Mallia? How are they being paid? And where is the fiscal receipt?

    Or is it part of the service they are expected to provide him with in return for the perks and privileges of working for Mallia, at taxpayers’ expense?

  23. the realist says:

    What he did was wrong but what i do not understand is why everyone is ”blaming” Manuel Mallia fine his past is that of a coward (and as it seems even his present) but people are using this as an exscuse to attack Manuel Mallia it’s like blaming the cooker for food getting burnt….

    [Daphne – No, the realist. It’s like blaming the restaurant manager for choosing a cook who burns food. Unbelievable. But even that isn’t accurate, because a cook is not a person of trust. So let’s just say it’s like blaming the manager who insists on bringing in one particular personal assistant, because he wants only that personal assistant, who then blows the place up.]

Leave a Comment