Internal note: ‘No further action’ on ‘Kummidjant’ who killed Nicolette Ghirxi

Last week, Nicolette Ghirxi’s lawyer, Joseph Borda, said she could still be alive if the police had done their job instead of allowing her murderer to mock them.

Borda published an email exchange in which police attempted to summon Edward Johnston, who told them he was in Dubai in order to “top up my tan”.

The lawyer also referred to 355AD (5) of the Criminal Code which states that a person who fails to comply with such notice “shall be guilty of a contravention punishable with detention and shall be liable to be arrested immediately under warrant”.

No action on ‘Kummidjant’

A handwritten note allegedly found attached to a copy of the police file, presented to NEWZ.mt by a source close to the corps, advised “no further action” should be taken on “this comedian” (dan il-Kummidjant) “for the time being” (għalissa).

The source suggested the note was taken shortly after Johnston refused to come in for questioning in connection to domestic violence, as seen in the email exchange published by Ghirxi’s lawyer.

“We could and should have done more, at the very least in light of a suspect mocking our colleagues who just did their job. The [helm’s] blanket denial of inaction made us the joke of the nation again. We already are”, they said.

NEWZ.mt refrains from publishing the note verbatim due to source protection.

Police deny responsibility

Since a media conference on the femicide last Monday, the police have been insisting on their claim that Nicolette Ghirxi did not want them to take legal action against Johnston.

“Had this been true she would not have informed the police about his presence in Malta”, lawyer Joseph Borda told Times of Malta last week.

So far, the police have failed to substantiate their claim by presenting the documents Nicolette Ghirxi allegedly signed – and their actual content and scope.

Instead, police commissioner Angelo Gafà gave Times of Malta and MaltaToday a guided tour at the force’s Domestic Violence Hub in Santa Lucija.

Police spokesperson Brandon Pisani told NEWZ.mt on Sunday that “in view of ongoing investigations and a magisterial inquiry, it would not be prudent for the police to provide further comments on the case”.

Pisani also failed to reply to questions on the separate contravention when Johnston did not comply with the police’s request to show up for questioning.