No bail for woman charged over bottle assault on neighbour

Initial efforts by the police to find the accused and bring her in for questioning were unsuccessful, but she was later apprehended at the police station whilst signing her bail book

File photo
File photo

A 36-year-old woman from Tarxien was remanded in custody earlier today after appearing in court on charges of attacking and slightly injuring one of her neighbours with a bottle.

Prosecuting police inspector Paul Camilleri also charged Tiziana Attard with failing to sign her bail book in connection with separate criminal proceedings.

He told Magistrate Josette Demicoli that a woman had filed a police report about the incident, which followed an argument between her and the accused. Initial efforts by the police to find Attard and bring her in for questioning were unsuccessful, but she was later apprehended at the police station whilst signing her bail book.

The court was also told that she would often sign it outside the hours specified in her bail conditions, or not at all.

The woman chose not to answer questions during her interrogation, added the inspector.

Defence lawyer Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici pointed out that the injuries suffered by the victim were slight, during his bail submissions. He argued that any charge of breaching bail still had to be proven and was not a valid ground to refuse her release from custody.

The fight had started inside the woman’s apartment with the defence claiming that Attard had been provoked, Mifsud Bonnici added.

The prosecution objected to bail, on the grounds of proven untrustworthiness and because the accused and the alleged victim lived in the same apartment block.

Mifsud Bonnici insisted that the accused had not started the fight and that this was borne out by medical certificates, with the prosecution replying that Attard should not be released from arrest due to her “rage filled character.”

Her lawyer quipped that “half the country was angry” and this alone did not merit incarceration.

The request for bail was eventually refused, due to the proximity of the involved parties’ residences, as well as the untrustworthiness of the accused.