Language student handed suspended jail term, €4,600 fine for drunken Paceville brawl

An EFL student received an expensive lesson this afternoon, after he admitted to assaulting police officers in Paceville yesterday.

24-year-old Turkish national Ufuk Durgut appeared before Magistrate Marseanne Farrugia on Wednesday afternoon, accused of attacking and threatening a police sergeant in Paceville early yesterday morning at around 4am.

He was also charged with damaging the officer’s bodycam magnet clip, breaching the peace and disobeying the police’s lawful orders.

Inspector Keith Xerri explained that Durgut, who the court was told had travelled to Malta to learn English, had been fighting with another person outside a nightclub when the police intervened to separate the two men.

Whilst the officers had been talking to the other party, Durgut had thrown a punch at him but missed, hitting a police sergeant instead and knocking the police officer’s bodycam onto the ground.

The man was arrested and although he initially refused to cooperate with the police, had later complied with their instructions, said the inspector.

The defendant, assisted by legal aid lawyer Sue Mercieca pleaded guilty to the charges, confirming the plea after being given time to reconsider.

Making submissions on punishment, Mercieca explained that the defendant had come to Malta from Germany for a few weeks so as to learn English. He drank too much and got involved in a fight, said the lawyer, while acknowledging that voluntary intoxication was not a defence.

The defence asked the court to impose a punishment close to the minimum in order “to teach him a lesson.” Being a student, the defendant had limited financial means which meant that he could not afford fines, she said, adding that imprisonment would not be an ideal punishment in the circumstances.

The court noted that the charges carried with them a potential maximum sentence of imprisonment for two years and seven months, together with a maximum €7000 fine.

Finding him guilty on his own admission, the court sentenced Durgut to imprisonment for 15 months, suspended for four years and imposed a €4,600 fine, which had to be paid immediately. The court rejected the defence’s request that the man be allowed to pay the fine in instalments.

The defence gave the court notice of appeal.