Court finds 'no reasons' for indicting man

A Qormi man was yesterday cleared of assaulting a man and slightly injuring him after a magistrate ruled there were not enough reasons for his indictment.

Joseph Mizzi, 48, was cleared of assaulting and injuring Francis Xavier Cuschieri and causing over Lm500 damage to his car by smashing the windscreen in Qormi on June 17, 2002.

Magistrate Abigail Lofaro heard Cuschieri explain how on the day of the incident he had an argument with Mizzi's son in a Qormi shop.

Cuschieri then got into his car from where he noticed Mizzi and his son in another car. Suddenly Cuschieri heard a noise and his windscreen broke. However, he did not see who had broken it.

Cuschieri added that he later learnt that Mizzi had nothing to do with the incident and that someone else had thrown a stool at his car.

The magistrate ruled that since Mizzi had not consented that his case be heard as a summary proceeding she had a month within which to decide if there were enough reasons for indictment.

However, the prosecution had closed its case and still there were no reasons for indictment, let alone "enough" reasons.

Police Inspector Chris Galea Scannura prosecuted.