Why wasn’t Paul Sheehan tested for drink and/or drugs?

Published: November 21, 2014 at 12:50pm

A man who drove off after being threatened with a gun by a stranger and shot at on a dark street is breathalysed by the police while being held in 48-hour custody.

The man who drew a gun on him and shot three times directly at the retreating vehicle – at least one of the shots aimed at the fuel tank and another at the upper windscreen in the direction of the head – has not even been breathalysed for drink let alone given a urine test for drug use – though that sort of instantaneous, extreme, disproportionate and no-regard-for-the-consequences reaction is typical of somebody wired out on cocaine.

I have no idea whether Manuel Mallia’s driver uses cocaine or not. So that is not what I am saying here. I am saying something else entirely: that testing him would have been the most obvious thing to do in the circumstances, and not testing him was a dereliction of duty – a deliberate dereliction, I suspect, which will now skew the findings of the magisterial inquiry.




20 Comments Comment

  1. Steve says:

    ‘Korruzzjoni hawn bl-addocc imma jghidu kollox miexi arlogg’ .. as the old song used to go.

  2. ciccio says:

    In the picture shown below, Paul Sheehan is seen talking on the phone.

    Who was he speaking to and what about?

    Was he on the line with the DOI, giving them his “I did not have sex with that Scotsman” version of events to be published without any verification?

    Or was he speaking directly to Manwel Mallia and asking him to act as his defence lawyer?

    http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/11/this-is-sheehan-last-night/

    • Tom Double Thumb says:

      The over-the-top reaction of Paul Sheehan in my opinion was a desperate attempt to cover the fact that he was in that place at that time without the knowledge of his boss.

      He needed an excuse to explain how his side-mirror got damaged.

      What sort of event was Manuel Mallia attending at Police Headquarters so late in the evening while his driver was somewhere else?

      Nothing has been said or written what was this event in Floriana which required the presence of the Police Minister.

      It does not seem it was a very important event since Manwel left it and arrived on the scene within minutes. He had to use a different car and a different driver as well.

      Actually Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici did mention on radio that he used to meet senior police officers once a week and criticised Manwel Mallia for discontinuing the practice. Did Manuel take that criticism to heart?

  3. Mim says:

    His reaction was out of proportion and illogical for some reason, we just don’t know why yet and it seems that the police are not willing to find out either.

    Perhaps the Police Commissioner would like to tell us how many breathalyzer tests were carried out in the last year and how many of then were carried out after a motor vehicle accident AND also then specify how many of them involved damage to the side mirror of a car only.

    Does he not understand that it was Mr Sheehan who chased and shot Mr. Smith?

    From the way things are being handled one would think that he was wrongly informed that it was Mr. Smith who was doing the chasing and the shooting all over a broken mirror.

    The only way out of this for them is by nailing Mr. Smith in every way they can and here it comes. First nail in the box: his alleged alcohol intake.

    One must note that Mr. Smith seems to hold his liquor very well if, with such an allegedly high alcohol content, and after being shouted, having a gun drawn on him and shot at repeatedly, he managed to steer his car all the way from Gzira to the tunnels without any incidents along the way.

    Now that is why lies never fit in perfectly with the truth.

  4. Jozef says:

    What gets to me is how they think this will go away. What’s horrific is the logical conclusion to come out on top.

  5. Roderick P says:

    Radio 101 has interviewed the last two ministers responsible for police, who categorically denied that their drivers used to be armed.

    The related statement by Minister Mallia was also part of the cover-up and it wasn’t said within minutes from the accident but 15 hours afterwards, when he had slept on it and had a long meeting with Kurt Farrugia and the Police Commissioner.

  6. Kollox Kontra says:

    Malta kollox bil-kontra. The victims are locked up for 48 hours, interrogated, tested for alcohol, and what not, whilst the real criminals are free to do as they please, totally unchecked.

    Don’t know why we are surprised. This already happened at least once lately, in the case of the mistaken identity of that burglar, when the policeman who caught the correct offender was investigated, whilst those who had the wrong man were not.

  7. missejna il- qiegh says:

    Heck, the one who used a gun was Mr. Sheehan. I thought that the proper thing to do would be to check him for drugs and alcohol.

  8. J says:

    More to the point, the man who (with all the caveats re presumption of innocence) is guilty of attempted murder was defended by the Minister for Justice.

    It really is that bad: to shoot a weapon in the direction of a person, indifferent to the consequences, is attempted murder.

    Meanwhile, the victim is being held under arrest for the maximum time allowed under Maltese and ECHR law.

  9. ChrisM says:

    Steve Smith should be released immediately without charge.

    Paul Sheehan should be arrested and charged with multiple offences including threatening behavior, firing a weapon in a public area, attempted murder, excessive force and whatever else he can be charged for.

  10. jaqq says:

    I bet Sheehan won’t even be arraigned.

  11. L-iehor says:

    What’s the Maltese version of the British Independent Police Complaints Commission?

    • observer says:

      A secretive coterie of which Silvio (everybody now knows who his is) Scerri forms part, apparently.

      What else do you expect?

  12. Kris Tofer says:

    Il-bicca xoghol kollha l-ghala Manuel Mallia ghandu jirrezenja ghadu hadd ma semmiha.

    Ix-xufier tal-ministru HAND PICKED. Mhux misjub minn fuq Yellow Pages jew ETC. Huwa person of TRUST.

    Ghajtu tant bil-persons of trust wara l-elezzjoni.

    Il-Ministru BILFORS kien jaf li x-xufier armat.

    U l-Ministru jaf x’ tip ta bniedem hu x-xufier ghax kien CANVASSER tieghu qabel l-elezzjoni.

    Insomma, qed nitkellmu fuq bniedem li qal li ghandu nofs miljun euro cold hard cash id-dar…u kif jghidu l-Inglizi, nobody batted an eye.

    Thank you.

  13. Marie says:

    Malta Tourism Authority, Malta Enterprise: carefully designed plans to attract tourists and investors and all you need is an episode like this to literally shoot all the good work down.

    What terrible publicity – when we look back on this incident we will be reminded of the film Midnight Express.

  14. Francis Saliba M.D. says:

    One evident reason would be that a trigger-happy policeman cum driver, whether his blood alcohol was normal or raised, would never be justified to fire a hail of bullets towards the head of another retreating driver and pretend that he was only firing warning shots aimed at the heavens.

  15. Neil says:

    Silvio Scerri maybe?

  16. Respect says:

    So you are arrested for protesting with a placard outside the prime minister’s office, but not arrested for shooting at cars with a real gun if you are Manuel Mallia’s driver.

  17. ronnie says:

    Ah finally someone mentioned it. I was meaning to post the same comment. Sheehan’s action reflect those of somebody who is not thinking straight.

Leave a Comment