Man who assaulted police slapped with €4,000 fine, suspended sentence

A man from Croatia has been sentenced after admitting to assaulting and resisting police officers whom he refused to show his ID.

The incident in question occurred at around 2pm yesterday in Marsa, when Borivoj Stankovic was stopped by police and asked to show his ID. At that point, Stankovic allegedly became violent and assaulted the two police officers, slightly injuring them.

Inspector Robert Vella charged the man with violently resisting the police, reviling or threatening the officers, slightly injuring them, breaching the peace and disobeying the police’s lawful orders.

His lawyer, Roberto Montalto, argued that at the moment of the incident, the accused was not in full control of his mental faculties. He had refused to show the police his ID because he was under the mistaken impression that the officers had to show him theirs beforehand.

The man’s resistance was ‘limited’ said the lawyer, adding that the man’s injuries were a testament to this.

Stankovic pleaded guilty as charged.

Having read the charges and heard the guilty plea, the court, presided by Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace, imposed a fine of €4,000 payable over three years and a six-month prison sentence suspended for one year.