Man pleads guilty to grievously injuring woman in assault

A 21-year-old man is to be sentenced later this month after pleading guilty to grievously injuring a woman in an assault.

German national David Sasay, 21, who has no address in Malta, was arraigned before Magistrate Astrid May Grima on Thursday, accused of assault, grievous bodily harm and threatening the woman. Sasay was also charged with leading an idle and vagrant life and having no means to sustain himself.

Before the sitting started, the parties were permitted to approach the magistrate’s bench, at the request of defence lawyer Ilona Schembri.

Sasay pleaded guilty to the charges, confirming his admission of guilt when given the opportunity to retract it. His lawyer told the court that he would not be retracting his plea, in view of the nature of the evidence and the fact that the defendant could not afford to pay for the appointments of court experts to examine it.

Making submissions on punishment, prosecutor Jurgen Dalli stressed that the only punishment Sasay could receive is a prison sentence, because of the grievous bodily harm charge. Dalli acknowledged that, on the other hand, the accused had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and had cooperated with the prosecution.

He suggested a custodial sentence of minimum duration.

For the defence, Schembri, too recommended a minimum-length prison sentence, pointing out that the incident had been recorded on CCTV and Sasay’s early admission of guilt had prevented a useless waste of the court’s time.

The lawyer also suggested that the court consider imposing a treatment order to address the man’s problems with alcohol.

The court adjourned the case for sentencing to March 21.