No bail for man accused of grievously injuring his brother, threatening police

A 25-year-old man from Marsaskala has been remanded in custody on charges of having grievously injured his brother in a fight and threatening police officers.

Inspector Audrey Micallef arraigned the man before magistrate Rachel Montebello this morning. She told the court that on 28 February, the police had received a report of a man being seriously injured in a fight in Marsaskala. Officers had gone to the scene and arrested the accused, who, she said, had insulted and threatened the arresting officers.

Few details relating to the argument or assault emerged in court today; however, the inspector informed the presiding magistrate that the victim’s injuries had been certified as grievous.

The man was also charged with disobeying legitimate police orders, breaching the peace, breaching bail conditions for a previous arrest dating back to April 2019 as well as breaching a probation order which had been imposed in January 2019 after he was convicted of breaching his bail conditions.

Lawyer Daniel Attard was appointed legal aid counsel after the accused informed the court that he was unemployed. Attard informed the court that his client was pleading not guilty to the charges and requested bail.

Inspector Micallef objected to the man’s release from arrest, arguing that there was a strong possibility of him tampering with evidence or non-compliance with his bail conditions.

The court was told that the victims lived in the same apartment block as the accused, in a flat overlying his. Attard submitted that the alleged victim was the accused’s brother and that the incident was the result of a family dispute.

But this fact also made it very easy for him to find himself in breach of any protection orders issued by the court, Inspector Micallef argued.

The court, after hearing the submissions on bail, said it felt that the bail request had to be refused, adding that it was not convinced that the accused would abide by his bail conditions.

The magistrate ordered that all the important witnesses and eyewitnesses be summoned to testify as soon as possible.