Knife attacker strikes again, denied bail

A man on bail for a near-fatal stabbing has been charged with yet another knife attack.

Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed, 31, from Somalia and residing in Hamrun was accused of grievously injuring another man with a sharp and pointed instrument, causing grievous injury in an accidental affray and breaching the peace in the incident which occurred on Tuesday Night at Msida.

Lawyer Yanika Bugeja, appointed as legal aid defence counsel, entered a not guilty plea and requested bail. The man had settled in Malta and had just started full-time employment at a car wash, the court was told. If he is detained, he would lose his new job, said the lawyer.

Inspector Jonathan Ransley, prosecuting, objected to bail on account of the man’s criminal record. Mohamed had been charged with attempted murder in 2017 after a frenzied knife attack on a fellow migrant in Marsa.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech denied bail, as the alleged victim was yet to testify and in view of the man’s criminal record.