Magistrate expresses concern at rise in foreign criminals as he jails man for stabbing

Magistrate Joe Mifsud says overwhelming majority of foreigners in Malta are peaceful and law-abiding but expresses concern on the increasing number of crimes being committed by 'a small number of foreigners' 

A 37-year old Somali man who lives in Xewkija, Gozo, has been jailed for two years after being found guilty of grievously injuring two other Somalis in a stabbing incident in 2015. 

Duale Abokor Mustafa was also found guilty of threatening one of the men. 

The men involved in the fight were drunk. The accused admitted he was under the influence of alcohol during the fight on 14 October 2015 in Pjazza San Ġwann Battista, Xewkija. Mustafa did not deny stabbing the men, claiming to have been too drunk to remember what happened.

"An aggression, a violent act against a human being, and the infliction of grievous bodily harm, with no excusable factors in the equation, must be addressed with an effective punishment – a punishment which will make the aggressor realise that such behaviour is not tolerated. There is simply no room for violence in a democratic and law-abiding state. Being in a state of intoxication is not an excuse or a legal defence to use violence. Society needs to be protected. Justice is to be done," the magistrate said, going on to protest the rise of imported crime. 

"The Court notes that the overwhelming majority of foreigners in this country are peaceful and law-abiding. The Court expresses concern on the increasing number of crimes being committed by a small number of foreigners. Such a situation is intolerable," Mifsud said.

In the light of explanations by medical doctors, the Gozo Court of Magistrates, Mifsud cleared Mustafa of attempted murder of Nurdin Farah Saad and Jimale Sulub Ismail, but found him guilty of other charges, which included grievous bodily harm and carrying a knife in public without a licence. 

The court handed Mustafa a two-year prison sentence for the stabbing. A protection order was imposed in favour of the other men. 

Mifsud also extended by a year a suspended sentence against Mustafa who, four years ago, had admitted damaging a car and was drunk in a public place.