Man remanded in custody after fight with knife and bottles in San Gwann

A man has been accused of injuring two men with a spring-loaded craft knife and throwing glass bottles in a fight in San Gwann on Saturday.

Inspector Leeroy Balzan Engerer charged Fares Hmein Sheibani Beaj, 33, from Libya after police were called out to a fight at 10:30pm on 23 January. Officers found an Arab man who said he had been set upon by some people. Shortly afterwards, a car driven by the accused and a woman drove past and the victim had pointed out the man.

A spring-loaded craft knife and glass bottles were used in the attack, the court heard. The fight started after a dispute over money escalated out of control, the inspector said.

Beaj was accused of attacking and slightly injuring two men, threatening them, attacking a woman, insulting the three, breaching the peace, disobeying police orders, carrying a knife in public without a licence and breaching his bail conditions.

The accused was already under a court-imposed curfew at the time and was out in breach of it, Inspector Balzan Engerer pointed out.

Lawyer Annemarie Cutajar entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of the accused and requested bail.

The prosecution objected to bail on the basis that the accused had already ignored his bail conditions once and had proven himself untrustworthy.

In addition, there were civilian witnesses who were yet to testify, said the inspector.

Magistrate Ian Farrugia denied bail, noting that the accused had no ties to Malta and witnesses were yet to testify.