Father and son charged over assault and making false police report

A 41-year-old father and his 16-year-old son were arraigned on Thursday in connection with an altercation outside their neighbouring food establishments.

The father, who works in construction and part-time in retail, and his son were charged with causing grievous injuries to a man, engaging in a fight, and assaulting, insulting and threatening the victim.

They were also accused of fabricating false evidence, simulating an offence and suppressing, destroying or altering traces of a crime.

They both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The case began after the accused pair reported the incident at the Qormi police station, claiming they had been assaulted by the victim. The two families operate food establishments next to each other. The pair later went to a health centre and obtained a medical certificate for their injuries.

However, nearby CCTV which recorded the confrontation revealed that the pair filing the report were actually the aggressors. The victim suffered a broken nose as certified by a medical certificate.

The police determined that the alleged aggressors were attempting to falsely portray themselves as victims.

Son gets bail, father remanded in custody 

The pair’s defence team requested bail.

The prosecution heavily objected to the request for bail, arguing that there remained a real risk of contamination of evidence. Given that the victims have not yet testified and that the parties know each other personally and operate side-by-side establishments, interference was a genuine concern.

AG lawyer Valentina Cassar added that after the arrest, members of the accused’s family had even contacted the victim’s family in an attempt to have the report withdrawn, reinforcing the prosecution’s fears of potential tampering.

The prosecution further argued that the victim had done nothing to provoke the father and son, stressing the seriousness of the case, particularly the allegation that the accused attempted to mislead the authorities by filing a false report

At this stage, the defence intervened saying that the prosecution was going into the merits of the case, which was not allowed at such an early stage of the proceedings.

The defence countered that the father, has a very minor conviction on his conduct whilst the son has a clean criminal record.

Defence lawyer Alfred Abela stressed bail must remain an exception, not the rule, as stated in the courts of Strasbourg.

Defence lawyer Franco Debono argued that in this case, contamination of evidence was “impossible” because the crucial evidence, the CCTV footage, was already preserved.

Debono also noted the incident took place roughly a week before the arraignment and this was contradicting to the fear of contamination of evidence.

To address any risk, the defence proposed several bail conditions, including an alternative residence for the father and son, effectively eliminating the risk that the pair would not frequent the area where the neighbouring establishments are located.

Attorney General lawyer Valentina Cassar countered the attempt to interfere with evidence occurred even while the two were in custody, making the imposition of an alternative residence ineffective.

After submissions, the court denied the bail request for the father but upheld it for the 16-year-old son.

The son was granted bail against a €1,000 deposit and a €5,000 personal guarantee. The court bound the young man’s mother as a third-party guarantee due to his young age.

A ban on the names of the accused was also handed down by the court.

Inspector James Mallia and Attorney General lawyer Valentina Cassar prosecuted.

Defence lawyers Franco Debono, Mario Mifsud and Alfred Abela appeared for the pair. Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi appeared for the parte civile.

Magistrate Ann-Marie Thake presided over the case.