Bouncers jailed for stabbing man in the face, will be deported after serving sentence

Three former bouncers who used to run security at a St. Paul’s Bay club have been jailed after a court found them guilty of carrying out a savage attack on an African man in 2020, with one of them stabbing the victim in the face.

Stepan Stankov, 53, from Bulgaria was sentenced to imprisonment for five years and four months for the stabbing. Yermakov Mykhailo, 31, from Ukraine was jailed for a year for causing slight injury during the same incident, whilst Dorde Dudic, 26, from Serbia was jailed for 18 months for his part in the attack.

Mykhailo and Stankov were additionally found guilty of working as security officers without a police licence.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech had heard Inspector Clayton Camilleri say how the incident had taken place at Babylon Club on 16 February 2020 at 5am. The incident was not racially motivated, the court was told, rather, Dudic had been flirting with the victim’s girlfriend and the men had subsequently attacked the victim as he had identified him as a “weakling”.

The accused had tried to put the blame for the fight on a fourth person who had fled the scene.

The assault was captured on CCTV, which was exhibited in court.

Handing down judgement in the case, Magistrate Frendo Dimech ruled that the three accused had clearly lied in their testimony, as their version of events was conclusively disproven by the CCTV footage.

The victim had testified in the proceedings, telling the court how he had lost sight of his girlfriend at one point during the evening and found her outside the club, with Dudic holding her wrist. Dudic’s reaction to being asked, by the victim, what he was doing, was to slam the victim against the wall.

Things only got worse when the victim went to report the incident inside the bar to Stankov, whom he described as a security officer. He was followed outside of the club by another staff member  who wanted to see what happened.

At that point, the victim’s friends stood up to join him as he was shouting.

Stankov then pulled out a knife and stabbed the man in the face, he said.

The victim said that three accused had thrown him out of the club, with Stankov stabbing him on the stairs outside He identified Yermakov as having grabbed him by the neck as Stankov repeatedly kicked him in the stomach. Dudic also joined in the attack outside the club.

Deciding the case, the court concluded that the victim’s injuries had been caused by the cowardly attack, saying that the footage exhibited by the prosecution provided “graphic evidence” of the assault.

The defendant’s claims to have been acting in self defence, or under provocation were contradicted by the evidence, said the magistrate.

“The accused demonstrated that they cannot exercise self-control, have no respect for others especially the frail and the weak, and thus have no place in the community which is governed by laws designed to protect its members from the peril such individuals pose. Through their actions the accused demonstrated that they constitute a real threat to society. Society has no place for such individuals. Not until they have proven themselves to be well and truly rehabilitated.”.

After examining relevant jurisprudence the court ruled that “…violent individuals lose their right to continue to live amongst law-abiding members of the community. Society abhors such behaviour and has a right to ensure that violent and aggressive individuals are not allowed to roam uninhibited and with impunity our communities which should reflect a social fabric woven with civility and not threatened by criminal behaviour such as that of the accused.”

It was the court’s job to voice society’s abhorrence to such violence through its sentence, said the magistrate.

Stankov was jailed for 5 years and 4 months, Mykhalio was sentenced to one year together with a €2,500 fine, whilst Dudic was jailed for 18 months.

Stankov was also ordered t o pay €5000 to the victim as compensation for the injuries suffered.

The court also instructed the police to continue investigating the evidence to identify the fourth man involved in the incident and ordered a copy of the judgment be delivered to Jobsplus to investigate the possibility that third parties be charged with breaching employment laws.

Finally, the court also recommended that the guilty men be deported to their countries of origin after serving their sentence.

Inspector Clayton Camilleri prosecuted.