Unwanted guest stabbed in thigh, court told

A court was told this morning how a man’s attempt at evicting a guest from his home ended with him in the dock and the guest nursing a knife wound.

Mousa Sulayman Mousay Bin Husayn, 26, from Libya, had turned himself in at the Pieta’ police station yesterday, explaining that he had had a violent argument with a guest in his home. Bin Husayn had been giving the guest shelter as he was homeless but at a point had asked the man to leave, he said.

An argument erupted and the accused had inadvertently caused a knife wound to the guest’s thigh, slightly injuring him.

The victim had also staggered to the police station in Paola and filed a report of his own.

Before magistrate Rachel Montebello, Inspector Robert Vella exhibited the knife, which the accused had handed in to the police.

Defence lawyer Victor Bugeja, appearing as legal aid to the accused, asked the inspector if he had been told by the accused that he had only meant to scare him with the knife and had struck him accidentally.

The inspector confirmed having been told this.

Bin Husayn, who is unemployed, pleaded guilty to the charge.

In his submissions on punishment, Bugeja argued that the man didn’t have the intention to hurt the other person. “He wanted to scare the other man out of his property. So much so, he had taken the knife to the police himself.”

The court was informed that the victim would be leaving the house in the coming hours.

Bin Husayn was jailed for two years, with his sentence being suspended for four years. He was also placed under an obligation not to approach the victim for 1 year or pay a penalty of €1,000.