Student admits grievously injuring another in early morning St. George's Bay brawl

A 23-year-old postgraduate student has been handed a one-year prison sentence suspended for two years for grievously injuring a young man with his fists during an altercation at St. George’s Bay.

Sliema resident Ben Alayah from Tunisia, who the court was told was currently in Malta pursuing a Masters degree, was arraigned before magistrate Rachel Montebello on Monday, in connection with the 4:30am Sunday morning incident.

The prosecution told Magistrate Rachel Montebello that a suspended sentence would be a fitting punishment in view of the defendant’s early guilty plea, clean criminal record and his cooperation with the police.

The man’s defence lawyer, Josette Sultana, submitted that the defendant and the victim did not know each other and had never argued. Sultana explained that the victim had been punched accidentally during the commotion, in which a number of students had been involved.

Declaring Alayah to be guilty on his own admission, the court sentenced him to imprisonment for one year, suspended for two years and issued a protection order in favour of the other student.

Inspector Nico Zarb prosecuted, assisted by lawyer Alessia Schembri from the Office of the Attorney General.