Man beaten up at Isle of MTV gets awarded €117,173 in damages

An orthopaedic consultant who was beaten up at an Isle of MTV concert back in 2013 has been awarded damages of €117,172.

The case was instituted by Jason Zammit against Chris Joseph Griffiths and Anu Ogunbiyi.

The consultant told the court that the two men among others had been jumping around and gesticulating wildly, hitting and harassing his children in the process.

His plea for them to stop went ignored. A policeman who was close by also happened to warn them against continuing with their behaviour.

While Griffiths claimed that Zammit had made a racist remark against Ogunbiyi, who is of Nigerian descent, Zammit denied the claim and it was 45 minutes after he had reportedly made the remark that the men returned to beat him. They held him, kicked him, and headbutted him.

Zammit's daughters were also assaulted.

The accused pleaded not guilty and denied responsibility.

Testifying, Griffiths said he did not know if it was Jason Zammit who had passed the racist remark, but that it came from his direction. 

Magistrate Lawrence Mintoff, after hearing various witnesses, including the police, said it believed the version of events given by Zammit.

The Civil Court dismissed the claim of a racist comment having been made, and added that in any case that did not justify the assault made some 45 minutes later.  

It also established that Zammit had suffered a disability of 11% and ordered the accused to pay damages of €117,173 between them.