Man brought horsewhip to Cospicua Easter Sunday fight, court told

A court has heard the dynamics of the fracas which erupted in Cospicua on Easter Sunday, after two rival families were involved in a large brawl.

A woman who dated one of the men injured in the fight gave an eyewitness account of what happened in the incident, in which eight family members aged between 18 and 59 attacked members of another family, also from Cospicua.

The men, Carmelo Dalli, 59, Fredrick Dalli, 36, Charlston Cassar, 26, Lee Julian Cassar, 25, Josloann Cassar, 25, Redent Cassar, 24, Tristan Cassar, 22 and Kurt David Azzopardi, 18, are charged with breaching the peace, threatening and assaulting a number of members of the Brincat family during the mid-afternoon on Easter Sunday.

Four men were injured in the attack, two of them grievously.

Christine Sammut told the court how she had been drinking with her partner and some friends when she noticed a commotion nearby in which several people appeared to be arguing. At that point she saw her partner heading towards the fray, horsewhip in hand and had unsuccessfully tried to stop him.

At a point, a man identified in court as Frederick Dalli, had gone up to the man and demanded to know why he had touched his son. Fisticuffs ensued and the witness said she saw her partner being assaulted by another man who held a knife to his neck.

She was injured by the knife as it was wrested from his grasp, she said, but could not say by whom.

All the accused have now been released on bail as the civilian witnesses have testified. The last four accused were released during the last sitting against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €10,000.

The compilation of evidence continues.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Arthur Azzopardi, Amadeus Cachia, Marion Camilleri and Mario Mifsud appeared for the accused.