The notorious suspect: David Gatt awarded €321,000 for dismissal

In one of his last cases before his retirement, Judge Toni Abela awarded lawyer David Gatt the sum of €321,021 plus interest for “damages he suffered” when he was dismissed from the police corps in 2001.

Gatt was guaranteed a pension upon his dismissal based on 12 years of service. But he contested the decision on his dismissal.

In 2010, the court upheld his request and demanded his reinstatement in his original role as Inspector. Yet, the police commissioner at the time informed Gatt that it would be best if his ties with the police force were severed.

Gatt was summarily dismissed from the police corps when his name was mentioned in the heist on HSBC bank in 2001. The court notes his name cropped up after phone calls intercepted in which he was speaking to “notorious people well known to the police”.

Following investigations, the police commissioner at the time, George Grech, wrote to the prime minister in 2001 recommending that Gatt and two other police officers no longer serve, as this was in the public interest.

Gatt has continued to receive his pension to this day, according to court documents.

Yet Judge Abela said, “The Court is astonished at how the highest authorities, supposed to uphold the rule of law, broke the law in this way… no matter how justified the decision was, they could not cut corners in this way without following procedure.”

David Gatt and the HSBC heist

The former police officer, turned lawyer, gained notoriety in connection with a dramatic and violent attempted robbery at the HSBC bank headquarters in Qormi, Malta, in June 2010.

Although never convicted, Gatt’s alleged involvement in one of Malta’s most high-profile criminal plots has kept him in the public and legal spotlight for over a decade.

The attempted heist involved a gang of armed men who stormed the bank in broad daylight, engaging in a shootout with police officers. The plot was foiled thanks to a rapid police response, but the event raised serious questions about the possible presence of insider knowledge and connections within the police force itself.

Gatt has consistently denied the charges. The case against him was largely built on the testimony of his former friend and self-confessed accomplice, Vince Muscat, known as “il-Koħħu”—a key figure who would later admit involvement in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Muscat claimed that Gatt had orchestrated the robberies and provided insider details about police operations. However, the court ultimately found that the prosecution’s case lacked corroborative evidence beyond Muscat’s testimony. In 2021, Gatt was acquitted of all charges, with the court highlighting the unreliability of the state’s primary witness.

Despite his acquittal, Gatt remains a controversial figure in Malta’s criminal justice narrative, symbolic of deeper concerns about corruption, institutional complicity, and the blurred lines between law enforcement and organised crime.