Kidnap suspect Burton Azzopardi convicted over violent attack on woman and her son

Burton Azzopardi, charged with the Rabat kidnap together with No Deposit principals, has been convicted of a violent attack on a woman and her son

Brothers Burton Azzopardi, left and Zven Azzopardi, together with their siblings, were found guilty of damaging property as part of an armed gathering and breaching the peace. They were both handed a three-year conditional discharge
Brothers Burton Azzopardi, left and Zven Azzopardi, together with their siblings, were found guilty of damaging property as part of an armed gathering and breaching the peace. They were both handed a three-year conditional discharge

A gang of men have been convicted of various offences in connection with a violent attack on a woman and her son in Bormla, four years ago.

Siblings Burton, Zven, Keith and Ryan Azzopardi of Birkirkara, together with Marlon Baldacchino from Zabbar, faced several charges, including that of attempted grievous bodily harm against a woman, her son and infant grandson whom they pelted with glass bottles.

Burton Azzopardi was in the news in April this year after he was charged with attempting to suborn a witness in connection with an alleged kidnapping with which he is also facing charges. His brother, Zven Azzopardi was charged with pointing a gun at his mechanic and trying to run him over, in that same month.

The woman targeted in the attack had told the court how she had received threatening and insulting messages about her son from Zven Azzopardi in December 2019, in which he said that he and his accomplices would “cut off both his legs”.

This threat appears to have been made in connection with a dispute over the theft of a car bumper and two headlamps.

Soon after receiving the messages, the Azzopardi brothers and Baldacchino caught up with her in a car while she was walking in Triq San Pawl, Bormla. The four men then got out of the vehicle. Burton Azzopardi, who had been driving, was carrying a makeshift truncheon, she said.

When the woman asked him whether he intended to hit her with it, Keith Azzopardi held Burton back. At that point, Marlon Azzopardi got back in the car and drove it up to the front of her house, where he revved the engine, as if preparing to use the car as a battering ram against the front door.

She told the court that the next Sunday morning, two of her son’s cars had been set on fire. The arsonist was not identified.

At around 7:30pm the following Monday, while smoking a cigarette in Triq in-Nadur, Marsaskala, the five defendants suddenly arrived in a car. Marlon Baldacchino was holding a purple box and one of the other men was holding a pipe in his hand, recalled the witness, unable to say who. Her son defended himself with a fire extinguisher while she tried to go back inside, she said.

Keith Azzopardi broke down her front door, while his brothers Ryan and Burton vandalised her son’s car, she said. Marlon Azzopardi threw wine bottles into the house, added the woman, while Burton Azzopardi hurled metal rods into the residence, where the woman’s nine-month-old grandchild had been asleep.

A number of photos showing the damages caused during the attack were exhibited in court.

The health centre doctor who had treated the woman confirmed on oath that she had suffered bruises, certifying the injuries as slight.

A Transport Malta representative testified that out of all the defendants, only Keith Azzopardi held a driving licence at the time.

The defendants released statements to the police, with Ryan Azzopardi saying he had vandalised the victim’s car as revenge for an incident where the victim had used a fire extinguisher on them during an argument outside his front door. Baldacchino alleged that the victim had fired shots at his car and damaged its windscreen, “leaving him with no other option.” He based his claim of gunfire on the fact that there had been “a smell of something burning,” the court noted.

Keith Azzopardi claimed to have been driving with his brother Ryan and other family members when his car’s rear windscreen suddenly shattered. Yet, while he had gone to the Zabbar police station after the incident, for reasons not explained in the judgment, they did not file a report.

Sven Azzopardi also told the police he had been involved in several arguments with the victim, because he had used Azzopardi’s car in a robbery, which resulted in the car being seized as evidence by the police.

He too repeated the claim that the victim had fired shots at the car, adding that he had therefore gone to “smash up his house and break his head.”

Court decision

In a decision handed down by Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo on 1 March, the court did not find any of the men guilty of attempted grievous bodily harm, ruling that while it was true that they had pelted the house with bottles, the prosecution had not provided evidence showing an intent to inflict grievous bodily harm on the woman or her family.

Marlon Baldacchino together with Burton, Ryan and Sven Azzopardi were found guilty of intentionally damaging the victim’s car, with the court, however, noting that no evidence of the value of the damage caused had been exhibited.

The court acquitted the men of inflicting slight bodily harm on the victim’s mother, as she had not mentioned being bruised in any particular incident.

They were likewise acquitted of the use of public violence when in a group of three or more people, at least two of whom were carrying improvised weapons. “It clearly emerges that although objects had been thrown, none of the defendants had attacked [the mother] or members of her family and therefore this court has no doubt in declaring all the defendants not guilty.”

Neither was guilt found with regards the charge of subjecting the victim’s mother to harassment and threats. Crucially, the offence they were charged with dealt with the prospect of future violence, and not violence which was effectively committed.

And the men were also cleared of misusing electronic telecommunications equipment – as the prosecution had not exhibited evidence to show phone calls made by Zven Azzopardi to the woman’s number – and cleared of breaching bail conditions, because the prosecution failed to exhibit copies of their bail conditions.

Baldacchino had a previous conviction for damaging the same woman’s car in 2017 for which he had been handed a suspended sentence, and so an increase in punishment was merited. Ryan Azzopardi had likewise received a suspended sentence in 2019, yet he was never charged with breaching it, so no increase in punishment could be awarded.

Keith Azzopardi was found guilty of damaging property as part of an armed gathering and breaching the peace, and was conditionally discharged for 24 months. Ryan Azzopardi was convicted of the same, as well as with damaging third-party property, and handed a two-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months.

Marlon Baldacchino was found guilty of the same offence and jailed for two months, from which the time he spent in police custody was to be deducted. Burton Azzopardi and Zven Azzopardi were also found guilty of the same offences and were both handed a three-year conditional discharge.

The court placed all five men under a three-year restraining order in favour of the woman.

Inspector Eman Hayman prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri assisted the defendants.