Youth on bail for assault tells victim: 'Better to have me as a friend than an enemy'

A court has been told that a young man arrested after a fight in Paceville allegedly approached one of his victims to offer to pay for medical treatment - whilst also delivering a chilling warning.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke heard Police Inspector Jean Paul Attard testify about the 27 November arrests of two men charged after the incident which he said had started in Gort Street and had then spilled over into Wilga Street.

On that day, the victim’s father had gone to the St. Julian’s police station to report that his son and others had been involved in an altercation in Paceville. Police had gone to the scene with the victim who recognised the accused, who were still there. They were taken into custody and a search on one of the young men revealed that he had been carrying four firecrackers and a small amount of what police suspect to be marijuana. The seized items were exhibited in court today.

The accused had then spent a night in the police lockup, after which a statement was taken.

Inspector Attard explained that the victims had also been questioned and had told the police that they had been standing opposite the Avenue in Gort Street when an argument erupted with the accused. The victims had been punched in the face and head, they said, and one of them claimed to have been hit with a bottle.

The police had gathered CCTV footage from various cameras in the area but none of them had captured the incident, he said.

The accused were subsequently released on police bail, said the inspector, but police had later received two reports that one of the accused had approached a victim at a fast food restaurant and offered to pay for his medical treatment. “He also told him that it was better to have him as a friend than as an enemy,” added the inspector.

He added that the police had duly called in the accused for further questioning, during which he had admitted to having done so.

The accused, whose bail conditions included a curfew, requested the court to exempt them from their curfew for one day - on New Year’s eve. After hearing what the parties had to say about this request, the court upheld it, albeit with their other bail conditions remaining in place.

The case continues in February.

Lawyers Giannella Demarco, Franco Debono, Gianluca Caruana Curran and Francesca Zarb appeared for the two accused.

The names of those involved are being withheld due to a court-imposed ban.