Woman throws urine at nephew in tit-for-tat quarrel

Terence Zahra, 31, of Marsascala, has been cleared of seriously injuring his aunt, Maria Liberata Gatt, in a tit for tat quarrel which resulted in the accused allegedly breaking his aunt’s arm after she threw urine at him.

The man and his aunt are neighbours and during court proceedings, it was noted that the feud between them had been ongoing for years due to sewage seeping from Zahra’s property in Zejtun into the aunt’s.

But the feud reached new heights in September 2012, when the aunt took exception at the situation, and reported her nephew to the health department.

On getting to know of this, Aunt Maria told Magistrate Neville Camilleri, Zahra went to her house, launching a diatribe of insults at her. The aunt said she went inside her house, grabbed a bowl into which the urine was seeping, and threw it at her nephew.

Zahra then allegedly pushed her against the wall, breaking her arm.

However, on their part, Zahra and his partner Vanessa Schembri rebutted the aunt’s claims, telling the magistrate that it was Aunt Maria who insulted them before throwing urine at Zahra.

The accused told the court that his aunt then ran away and slipped, breaking her arm when she fell.

Magistrate Camilleri noted that the quarrel between the neighbours had been long-standing and sometimes bitter, to the extent that some cases were reported to the police.

Inspector Arthur Mercieca prosecuted.