Five suspects who have been charged with abducting a man in Rabat may have been driving him straight to a police station, one of the accused’s lawyers has suggested.

The suspected abductors, Christian Borg, Thorne Mangion, Tyson Grech, Burton Azzopardi and Jeremy Borg, aged between 20 and 28, were hauled to court this evening to face charges in front of magistrate Charmaine Galea. 

Besides abduction, they have also been charged with holding a man against his will, robbing €1,000 and a mobile phone from the victim, criminal conspiracy and threats beyond the limit of provocation.

Christian Borg, Jeremy Borg and Azzopardi were also charged with recidivism, while Jeremy Borg was also charged with breaching a bail order while under a suspended sentence and Azzopardi with breaching two bail orders. 

All of them are pleading not guilty. 

Inspector Roderick Attard testified that the five men abducted the victim from outside his garage in Triq tat-Tabija, Rabat last Friday and hauled him into a van. 

They drove off towards Paola but the victim somehow managed to escape and report his abductors to the police. He identified them all by name, having previously enjoyed a working relationship with them, and CCTV footage corroborated his version of events.

Although it wasn’t specified in court, ONE News reported that the victim was a mechanic.

Times of Malta reported that lawyer Giannella de Marco, who is part of the defence team, asked the prosecution whether the abductee had robbed six vehicles from the accused and whether the accused were actually driving him straight to a police station.

Inspector Attard confirmed the allegations of theft and said a magisterial inquiry has been opened into the victim. With regards to whether the accused were driving the victim to the police, the inspector said the bigger picture needs to be seen. 

Lawyers Karl Muscat and Francesco Refalo from the AG’s office and Inspectors Roderick Attard and Sarah Kathleen Zerafa are leading the prosecution.

Giannella de Marco, Gianluca Caruana Curran, Jason Grima, Michael Sciriha, Alex Scerri Herrera, Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Matthew Xuereb are the defence lawyers.