Man gets probation for threatening ‘rowdy’ neighbours with a lead pipe

A man was sentenced to a one-year probation after he was found guilty of threatening his neighbours with a lead pipe. 

Abduraouf Younis Mansur Altabib, 40, was charged with threatening his neighbours on 5 September on Triq tas-Srug in Xaghra, Gozo. The Libyan national told the court that the ‘rowdy’ neighbours were causing problems in the common area of the block of flats where he resided.

Police officer Shaun Tabone testified that the accused had even called the police at one point, claiming that Benoit Caudal and Ninon Machault, his neighbours, were smoking in the common area, taking out the trash way before collection and irresponsibly parking their scooter.

The court heard how Machault had been smoking in the common area on 5 September when Altabib approached her and told her to smoke elsewhere. Machault claimed that he had come too close to her and at one point told her: ‘fuck you.’ She felt threatened, she said. Machault then entered the apartment and told her boyfriend what had happened.

Her boyfriend, Caudal, then went down to the common area holding a rolling pin. He told the court that Altabib had come back with a lead pipe and a knife in his pocket. 

“The court isn’t convinced that the accused had raised his voice enough to threaten Machault as her boyfriend hadn’t heard anything from the apartment. He got to know of the incident when she told him about it later.

“The accused also fetched a lead pipe when he saw that Caudal had come down holding a rolling pin. It’s the opinion of this court that it’s the conduct of the witnesses that precipitated this behaviour in the accused,” the court said.

It conceded however that Altabib’s reactions were too volatile and had observed how even in court, he had to be told to be quiet and was continuously agitated. 

“A lead pipe and a knife are surely not the right tools to solve the situation. This argument could have gone very differently,” the court said.

It sentenced Altabib to a probation for one year, arguing that a prison sentence wouldn’t be sound especially since the accused was the father of young children who depended on him. 

Inspector Bernard Charles Spiteri prosecuted. 

Brigitte Sultana was presiding magistrate.