Two accused of attempted murder in violent Bormla brawl

Three men were granted bail and two others remanded in custody after they were arraigned for their part in the violent brawl that took place yesterday in Bormla. Two stand accused of attempted murder.

Kenneth Brincat, 44 from Senglea, appeared before Magistrate Antonio Vella charged with carrying a knife which was used to carry out a crime and breaching the public peace.

Magistrate Antonio Vella granted Brincat bail against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €2,000. Lawyer Mario Spiteri appeared for Kenneth Brincat.

Four men from the opposing family were also arraigned this afternoon. Frederick Dalli, 32, Charlston Cassar, 22, Redent Cassar, 20 and a 17-year-old youth who cannot be named by court order.

The four brothers appeared in court, one with a tattoo reading “fuck the police” on his neck, and charged with making threats, breaching the peace and assault.

Charlston and Redent Cassar were charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Brincat, beating him on the head with a metal pipe and wooden beam, causing grevious injuries to Brincat and causing bodily harm to Omar Ellul.

Frederick Dalli was also accused of inciting the commission of a criminal offence and Redent Cassar accused of relapsing.

Lawyer Veronique Dalli, representing all the accused described the incident as a “fight that escalated out of control”.

Dalli told the court that an argument began during a 5-a-side football match on Monday when Stephen Brincat’s son threatened to kill members of the Cassar family.

“The Cassar brothers walked away in order to avoid trouble, she said. The Cassar brothers then went to Qormi until things calmed down. The next day, members of the Brincat family, including Stephen Brincat, went to Bormla to look for trouble. One of them was carrying a wooden plank and threatened to kill the brothers. Then a fight broke out.”

Dalli said that the Brincats had “spent most of the day driving up and down the Cassar’s road trying to pick a fight”.

Inspector Josric Mifsud, prosecuting, opposed bail for the men accused, excplaining that they, too, had been looking for a fight. “The football incident happened on one day and the fight took place on the next at around 1pm.”

He told the court that CCTV footage shows the accused approaching the area armed with metal pipes and wooden planks, adding that one of the accused, Frederick Dalli was seen on his mobile phone before the fight took place.

“We have people who went out looking for a fight, carrying arms,” said the inspector.

Magistrate Antonio Vella granted both Dalli and the youth bail against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €2,000, on the condition that they do not approach Munchies Bar, near the police station.

However the court felt that there was insufficient safeguards to keep Charlton and Redent Cassar from approaching the other family and remanded them in preventive custody. The court issued a protection order in favour of Stephen Brincat and Omar Ellul.