Man admits to double stabbing, handed suspended sentence

A Libyan man who stabbed a Facebook friend of his as well as another person has been handed a suspended sentence.

Mohammed Misrati, a 26-year-old unemployed Swieqi resident from Libya, had been arraigned on 17 August and accused of attacking and slightly injuring two men with a knife and breaching the peace.

The incident had occurred during the early hours of that morning, in Dragonara Street, St Julian’s, when Misrati stabbed the two men. Police were informed of the stabbing when one of the victims, a 38-year-old man from the Ivory Coast, residing in Valletta, alerted them to the situation. The second victim was a 32-year-old Libyan man, residing in Gzira.

Misrati had been in Malta illegally for just over a week at the time of the incident, a fact which was pointed out to the court as a matter of concern by prosecuting inspector Leeroy Balzan Engerer. One victim was a Facebook friend of the accused, the court had been told.

When the case resumed earlier this week, lawyers Franco Debono and Yanika Vidal informed the court that their client wished to admit the charges.

In view of the man’s guilty plea, magistrate Simone Grech handed the man a two year prison sentence, suspended for three years.